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. 

Since Coochbehar is close to the border and vulnerable to trafficking, it was felt that we should continue focusing on Coochbehar and reach out to as many adolescents as possible.    

Coochbehar is a city and municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of Cooch Behar district and is in the foothills of Eastern Himalayas. Cooch behar district has 549.45 Km long Indo-Bangladesh border of which more than 300 Km is fenced. Rest is open and at many places of open Indo-Bangladesh Border is riverine. Border crimes such as smuggling, infiltration, human trafficking and cattle smuggling is rampant in some portions of the riverine border. 

The Sexual and Reproductive Health & Rights (SRHR) sessions using Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) conducted by three facilitators in Govt. schools had been highly appreciated by the adolescent students & Teachers alike. In fact, there was a request from the Government authorities to conduct SRHR in more rural schools of Cooch Behar as there had been a substantial decrease in the number of school drop outs and an increase in the  confidence level of adolescent girls. An internal decision was taken by our organization to focus in Coochbehar district this Financial Year, ending on 31st March 2019. Sessions for the adolescent girls had been conducted in Govt. schools of Bhavalmore and Rail Gumti area of Coochbehar with total number of participants being 62. Apart from increasing awareness on the risks of falling prey to trafficking, they were made aware of the risks of early marriage, unprotected sex, HIV, condom usage and their overall safety and well being.  The sessions helped many youngsters to overcome their inhibitions and ignorance around the topics of sexuality.

Particular mention of a young teenaged girl named Putul (name changed), who was extremely withdrawn  and aggressive at the start of the session, refusing to communicate with anyone. A senior facilitator took her in confidence and shared her own personal story with her. By the end of the fourth day of the program, there was a noticible change in the  youngster’s behaviour. She started connecting with the rest, shared peer bonding and was far more at peace with herself.

In the next quarter,  SRHR programs will be conducted in various Govt. schools in and around West Bengal, especially areas prone to trafficking.