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| Sex, Society and System | | |
DR. VIKAS JAMWAL
SEX is self enriching xpression, a great form of exercise, a physical pleasure and a very normal experience. Good sex satisfies our physical urge. Sex is one of the most basic needs of a person which create positive thinking and generate powerful feelings of self esteem, boost confidence and makes you feel good. When you enjoy sex and participate in any act of intimacy, your body releases hormones, responsible for secondary sexual characteristics essential for normal human behavior which negates unwanted emotions, relieve stress and calm you down. For ideal couples it’s an important ingredient to strengthen the bond of love and nurture their martial sanctity.
Talking and desire to know more about sex is becoming quite often that many intellectuals and learned from different backgrounds are in opinion to start a full course as a part of the curriculum on sex education to teach teens and make them aware of the consequences of untimely and unsafe sex. These very crucial periods of adolescence are the formative years of a child which carries major physical, psychological and behavioral changes, an impressionable life cycle. It’s a time for exploration adventure and discover own body’s capability and potential. In case if they are not given appropriate information and education to follow set norms, they can prone to health risk behavior such as sex experiments, drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, accidents, injuries and contracting to deadly disease like HIV/ AIDS. In sex education more emphasizes is being laid upon to remove the barrier of hesitation in communicating about sexual developments and other related matters with elders.
Earlier men dominated the subject and choice of sex was exclusively in their command, now things are rapidly changing with women getting more vocal and demanding equal rights in these relationships. Women are getting more interested in the moral and cultural frameworks that bind sex and sexuality. They often welcome opportunities to talk about issues where people have strong views, like abortion, sex before marriage, contraception and birth control. This is best for the society in a country like India with high incidences of child marriage and teenage pregnancies, since child marriage ensures that you not only have sex at young age, you also have teenage pregnancy. Now forced sex is the violation of the human right of women, the matter can be reported to police or other commissions for any kind of physical and sexual violence by a husband or a partner.
The morality of sex education is under debate. One group of society sees it as providing individuals with the knowledge necessary to liberate them from socially organized sexual oppression and to make up their own minds. While other group believe that sexual mores should be left to the family, and sex education represents state interference, breakdown pre-existing notions of modesty and encourage acceptance of immoral practice. But the overall, aim is the same and both groups seek to enhance the quality of relationships, reduces the risk of potentially negative outcomes from sexual behavior, like unwanted or unplanned pregnancies and infection with sexually transmitted diseases. To help develop generation next to make lifetime decisions by all available effective means.
The question is whether India should introduce sex education in schools, health and other related sectors? which is the second largest country in terms of population and has significant number of people infected with AIDS, as estimated more than three million patients are suffering and have tested positive, where young Indians are a high-risk demographic at the age group of 20 to 30 years. Initially long rout drivers, belt force personnel and slum dwellers were under scan for HIV infection, now this virus is well placed in educated, affluent and professionally established sections of society entails the authorities with additional problem of preventing the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, endangering other specific group of people like young parents, as well as those who may be out of touch with services and schools and socially vulnerable, like young refugees and asylum seekers, young people in prisons, in care homes and those who lives on streets.
Experts believe that Sex education is an ideal mean to respect, a partner, a wife, a husband and sexual preferences. It also serves a means to question and understand the existence of assault and sexual violence in our country and to increase gender equality.
In India there is a huge debate on the curriculum of sex education, any effort by state or nongovernmental organizations to address, assess and discuss sex and life have met with opposition and criticism by political parties and religious groups who claim it against Indian culture. The parliamentary panel has already said NO to sex education in schools giving the reason that our social and cultural ethos are such that sex education has absolutely no place in it, and suggested other measures to educate children in the ways like inclusion of appropriate chapters in biology syllabus, but not before plus two stage!!! And chapters on HIV/AIDS/STD may be incorporated in medical field of higher classes only, what about other streams? The Supreme Court has already refused to bring sex education under the ambit of fundamental right by making it a part of the right to education. If we talk about our political leadership it exclaimed the following: “Our society is not an open one. Inclusion of sex education in the syllabus can have an adverse effect. Interestingly, no one talk about the so-called culture that forces many young Indian girls for child marriage, unsafe sex and early pregnancies.
Apart from US and Europe, if we talk about sex education worldwide the dark continent of the world (Africa) has certainly established effective programs with the help of WHO and international NGOs. Country like Egypt teaches about the knowledge of reproductive systems, contraception and STD at school levels. Our neighbor Sri Lanka starts teaching the children when they attain the age of seventeen. In a survey by The Week Magazine, of unmarried young Indians, 69% of men admitted to pre-marital sex compared to 38% of women. In the 16-19 group, 45% had pre-marital relationships, while 27% were 15 years or under and 28% were 20 years or older. Another study by, MAMTA (a mother and child health Institute) declare that sex education classes led to 78% of rural schoolgirls and 33% of urban to admit they would decline sex without a condom. It was a startling rise in condom awareness, as before the classes the ratio was just 5-10%.
In conclusion, one must feel comfortable seeking counseling on sex related issues as there is no right or wrong answer when talking about Sex and every question needs to be answered, no matter how private, to decrease the frustration and aggressions linked to sexuality, especially among youth. The society must not succumb under pressure and should decide for its future by the positive qualities of relationships, providing the foundation on which the complex knowledge of SEX is built up over time, for a safe SOCIETY, to sustain the right SYSTEM.
(Author is a tutor in Community Medicine at ASCOMS & Hospital, Jammu).
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