Action: Karnataka Govt proposes to reject sex education in schools

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

Below is the letter we wrote as Action Plus to the CM's and Education Ministers

of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh on this

issue.

It will be great if all members send letters to them. We have sent letters

through snail mail because we do no think that the e-mail campaign will work.

All addresses are available on the net.

To

The Chief Minister

Dear ............,

This is with reference to the decision to ban sexuality education in schools by

the Government of .................

We the undersigned from `Action Plus' a coalition of 15 NGO's working in the

field of HIV/AIDS in the country strongly believe that the ban on sexuality

education is an irredeemable loss of opportunity for school children. A formal

and standardized school initiated sexuality education process will help young

people acquire accurate information about sexuality; develop their ability to

make decisions over their entire lifetime and help them acquire skills that will

lead to informed choices about their behaviour and also bolster their confidence

and competence about acting on these choices.

Young people have a right to sexuality education: it will help them achieve

health and well-being in their lives, and protect themselves from abuse,

exploitation, unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and

HIV/AIDS.

The ban is an unfortunate development, anachronistic with the digital and

Internet age wherein urban and rural youth have access to frequently inaccurate

information about sexuality. Nothing can be more disastrous than the inaccurate

information that young people get from their friends and the media. These cannot

be the sources of sexuality education for young people. Unfortunately, with

the proposed ban, young people will come to rely on these sources of information

even more and will be deprived of the opportunity to get accurate information.

All parents will agree, at least privately, that their children should receive

accurate, age appropriate, culturally compatible information on sex and

sexuality. They may disagree about the content and methodology of sexuality

education and their own role in teaching it, but they all want their children to

know about it.

We also believe that this step of the Government of Maharashtra does nothing to

protect `Indian values'. In fact we question this argument, given that sexual

behaviour within the realm of `Indian values' has included sexual violence and

abuse in the name of custom and tradition. This stance of the government is

short-sighted, and will set back the work of women's rights activists who have

fought a hard battle to break the public and private divide on sexuality and

sexual violence.

We appeal to you to reconsider your decision, review the textbooks and include

sexuality education in the school curriculum.

Action plus.

A coalition of 15 organisations working in the field of HIV/AIDS in India.

Action Plus is composed of the Following organisation:

Centre for Development Initiatives, Mumbai

Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellor

Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action (CREA), New Delhi

International Services Association, India (INSA), Bangalore

Nalamdana, Chennai

National Addiction Research Centre (NARC), Mumbai

Point of View (POV), Mumbai

PRAYAS, Pune

Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha (SANGRAM), Sangli

The Naz Foundation (India) Trust (Naz), New Delhi

The service of Society Medical and Educational Foundation (SOS), Nasik

Talking About Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues (TARSHI), New Delhi

Tata Institute for Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai

Veshya Anyay Mukti Parishad (VAMP), Sangli

YR Gaitonde Medical, educational and Research Foundation (YRGCARE), Chennai

Meena Saraswathi Seshu

Sampada Grameen Mahila Sanstha (SANGRAM), Sangli

E-MAIL: <sangram.vamp@...>