Strengthening Adolescent Girls with Sex Education

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.