Comprehensive Sexuality Education(CSE): Busting Myths, Misconceptions about Sexuality in India
In India, taboos related to sex and sexuality are widespread and prevalent. So are myths and misconceptions, which lead to further misunderstandings and confusion for the young and curious minds of children and teenagers.?
Freudian Theory in the study of psychoanalysis suggests that repressing or suppressing any element of the human psyche, especially sexuality and libido can lead to unhealthy coping mechanisms, erratic and anti-social behaviours as well as a maladapted growth of an individual.?
We can see the real-life consequences of the suppression of sexuality in the current condition of India. In 2021, India lodged an average of 86 rapes per day, with 49 offences against women per hour. These explosive occurrences of criminal behaviour stem from repressed urges and misunderstood notions about sex and sexuality.
Along with rapes, other problems such as domestic violence, gender-biased murders, child sexual abuse (CSA) etc. add to the list of problems that can be attributed to a lack of properly integrated sex education as well as the Indian society’s inclination to make sex and sex-related subjects taboo.
This makes it an incredibly important necessity for parents and educators to integrate sex education from early on. Although if done incorrectly, it can cause more harm than good.?
In the recent #WishwaTalks, “The Importance of Comprehensive Sexuality Education(CSE)”, experts Saaniya Mehra, Rishi Talwar and Pankti Gohel from Torchbearers Foundation give an overlay of the widespread problems related to sexuality and gender-based violence stemming from taboos, misconceptions and myths. They also talk about how parents and teachers can introduce children to sensitive topics and how to deal with them.
Here are a few of the important topics that Comprehensive Sexuality Education covers, as well as a few tips and resources to help you introduce sex education to your children.
1. Human Development
This part involves teaching children about human anatomy including puberty, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Children can get confused about these concepts and form certain biases and misconceptions which inevitably lead to unhealthy behaviours in adulthood.
Parents and teachers hushing children down when they ask questions related to these topics can cause the children to feel that talking about these subjects is wrong and will begin a chain reaction that will lead to the development of unhealthy shame and guilt. Therefore parents and teachers should respond to such curious questions with openness and give age-appropriate but clear and honest explanations.
For more information on how to decide what information to share with children at what age, visit www.torchbearersfoundation.com
2. Relationships
CSE includes social aspects as well. Learning how to develop mature and well-managed relationships and sustain them is crucial for any adult, especially in romantic and sexual relationships.?
But a lack of understanding of social schemas, etiquettes and human emotions causes dysfunctional relationships and frustrations. Parents and teachers should strive to teach both by actions and words, how to maintain a friendship or a romantic relationship and what pitfalls to avoid for having a healthy relationship.
3. Personal and Inter-Personal Skills
Certain interpersonal skills play a great role in developing and maintaining healthy romantic relationships.?
Primarily, children should be taught how to communicate clearly, effectively and honestly. The roots of all dysfunctional relationships lie in dysfunctional communication. Important things to learn about communicating well are openness, integrity, honesty, respect and clarity.
Another important lesson is boundary-setting and consent. When boundaries are unclear, it leads to frustration, dissatisfaction and animosity. Conflicts ensue due to these factors. To avoid conflicts a person should know what their boundaries are and how to communicate about them to their partners.
Negotiation and compromise are useful and necessary skills to manage a relationship. These skills help arrive at a consensual agreement about decisions with the partner and thus facilitate a satisfactory way of dealing with conflicts and disagreements.
4. Sexual Health
A clear sign of a lack of sex education is a high volume of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) as well as unplanned pregnancies, both of which are rampant in India. In lieu of avoiding talking about sex education, our society misses out on imparting knowledge to teenagers about the consequences of unsafe sex. This has also given rise to an alarming rate of population explosion in India. It becomes utmost necessary to have healthy conversations about birth-control methods like contraceptive tools and medication, abortion etc. Well-informed teenagers are likely to make lesser mistakes and thus avoid severe consequences.
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5. Society and Culture
Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) also involves concepts like shame and stigma, and how power, identity, and oppression impact sexual wellness and reproductive freedom.?
Shame and stigma lead to erratic, anti-social behaviours as shame represses feelings and emotions which seek often violent and eruptive outlets leading to either gender/sex-based violence or even worse: rapes. To avoid such occurrences, the collective shame that our society carries when it comes to anything related to sex needs to be uprooted and replaced by a healthy outlook.
Other socio-psychological aspects such as power dynamics and identity play a huge role in sexual well-being. Misunderstandings and misconceptions regarding these ideas incite pathological patriarchal behaviour which has become common in Indian households, which has led to destabilising family structures etc.?
To learn in-depth about CSE or Sex/Gender-based violence, and solutions as well as preventive measures to the problems arising because of lack of CSE, visit WishwaTalks’ official YouTube channel to watch our interactive WishwaTalk “The Importance of Comprehensive Sexuality Education(CSE)”.
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