Strengthening Adolescent Girls with Sex Education

Project Report | Apr 1, 2020
Report from KOLKATA SANVED

By Rajyashree Datta | Project Leader

Between 12^th and 14^th of March 2020,Kolkata Sanved conducted specially customized Sexual and Reproductive Healthand Rights (SRHR) sessions with Suprava Pachashila Mahila Udyog Samity ( SPMUS) in the district of Murshidabadin West Bengal. 16 participants who are a part of Kolkata Sanved’s traumarecovery module, attended the session. Along with them, 3 care providers attended the sessions, supported by fundsfrom GlobalGiving.

The participants were girls between the age of 13- 20. Theyall live in adjoining communities of Murshidabad and partake in variousprograms and projects of SPMUS.

One of the participants who is a severe trauma survivor wasaccompanied by her mother, who also actively took part in the sessions. Most ofthe participants in the session have experienced some form of gender basedviolence which includes

· sexual violence or harassment

· Commercial sexual exploitation

· Forced and early marriage.

The participants were also at vulnerable adolescent age andwere at risk of finding themselves in unsafe romantic entanglements. Due tolack of knowledge, some of them have shown signs of risky sexual behavior. Oneparticipant in the class was HIV positive. Due to lack of knowledge on thetopic, she faces stigma from her peers. She was also not aware of how toeffectively take care of herself. Because of all this, it was felt that theyneeded inputs on sexuality and healthy relationships. For this purpose aspecially customized workshop was designed.

Objectives of the workshop was to

· Deconstruct discourses aroundgender and sexuality

· Impart health basedinformation to enhance well being

· Learning how to set boundaries

· Learning how to Identify unhealthy relationships

· Learning how to navigaterelationships.

· Learning how to identify Safe space

The facilitator also spoke about the need to understand thedifference between violence and consensual sexual activity and how it’simportant to critically think about ideas perpetuated in society, that we areexpected to follow.

The key outcomes of the workshop are summed up below :

· Participants learnt about theirbodies

· They became more aware of how to work on health and hygiene

· Participants learnt how tonavigate relationships in adolescence

· started thinking criticallyaround social norms

· Participants became aware oftheir rights in terms of relationships.

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Aug 30, 2019
Kolkata Sanved Sept_Report

By Rajyashree Datta | Project Leader

Jun 4, 2019
Kolkata Sanved June report

By Rajyashree Datta | Project Leader

The adolescent girls of the remote villages in Kakdwip were taken through the SRHR workshop.

Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas district is in the Indian State of West Bengal. It is situated on the eastern banks of the Hooghly River quite near where the river meets the Bay of Bengal. Some of the reasons for focusing in this area was because of the alarming rate of school dropout by adolescent girls, followed by early marriage, teen pregnancy apart from risks of being trafficked. The SRHR workshops for adolescent girls between the ages of 14 and 19, were held in collaboration with Indian Institute of Training & Development (IITD) who already have a presence in the area.

Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights (SRHR) module where dance is used for the process of awareness building to enlighten young girls, create safe space and ensure that marginalized sections of the society are not deprived of their right to the knowledge.

Some topics covered during the workshop included Body awareness, reduce stigma regarding body and its organs, health concern related to reproductive organs and personal hygiene during menstruation as well as teach about HIV AIDS, risks of transmission and protection from the disease. Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights to enable them to access their Rights and minimize chances of risk. 28 participants were taken through the workshop.

At the end of the workshop, objectives were met when two participants who were ready to get married decided after the session, that they would not get married until they reached the appropriate age. Many have been motivated to first complete their education, become financially independent and then think about marriage. Even if they are pressurized into marriage by their parents, they have the capacity & confidence now, to stand up for themselves. Sharing some pictures of the SRHR sessions in Kakdwip :

SRHR Workshops were also held at Lutheran World Services Trust (LWSIT) in the City of Kolkata for adolescent girls who are mostly children of Sex workers and face a high risk. The objective of the workshop here was to create awareness of HIV and Safe Space. The participants asked questions like- a) Can HIV spread if two people use the same blade and one of them is infected? b) How early can the virus be detected and does the risk increase if it is detected after a very long time? There was a high level of interest and engagement wherein a lot of their queries and wrong notions were cleared. They all understood how important it was to be aware of one’s own body and its function and needs so that they have the agency to voice their opinion and desire. The activity around safe space boosted their confidence. No pictures were taken since the youngsters were reluctant of being photographed.

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