CURRENT STATE OF SEXUAL HEALTH

 The currently prevailing sexual abuse of the children led UNICEF to conduct a collaborated study that can help in devising a plan to improve the lives of children and adolescents in India and around the world. Sexual abuse of children and

adults, is prevalent at homes, schools, offices and streets alike. Adolescents are easy targets and are subjected to abuse in a variety of forms ranging from rape, fondling, kissing, sodomy, and exposure to pornographic materials.

The study threw up some interesting insights over the years, some of which are mentioned as follows:

  •   India has over 2.3 million people over 15 years, affected with HIV/AIDS infection

  •   42 percent of girls under the age of 19 face sexual violence in India

  •   Almost 1.5 million girls are married in India even before they turn 18

  •   About 45% of men and 28% of women have strong knowledge about

    HIV/AIDS and its prevention

  •   8% of all surveyed unmarried women are not aware of even a single

    means of contraception

  •   62% of rural women mother at least one kid when they have barely

    turned the corner as a child themselves

    Why is Sex Education, for adolescents, essential in India?

    Adolescence is a period of life typically characterised by relatively good health in which vulnerability to infectious childhood diseases is greatly reduced and the illnesses of adulthood and old age are still further off. However, it is during adolescence that patterns of behaviour are formed , which largely determines a person’s adult health and longevity. As young people enter puberty, new health concerns arises which are related to their sexual and reproductive maturation, and the behaviours that follow. They come really having a lot more physical experience than knowledge or understanding” about sex and sexuality.

    EMERGING TRENDS

  •   Increase in Sexually Transmitted Disease prevalence among young people

  •   Rapid increase in HIV infections among 15-24 years

  •   Inadequate knowledge about reproductive health and needs

  •   Early marriage and early pregnancy

  •   High fertility rates among adolescents

  •   Huge proportion of unwanted teenage pregnancy

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