Talking about the birds and bees

Sex education, sexual harassment and sexual minorities have been made topics of everyday discussion by a group at the Delhi University (DU).

The Gender Studies Group, which is an independent organisation of DU students, has released booklets on issues that concern youngsters and about which they have incomplete information. These include queries about the body, sexual harassment and sexual minorities.

Since the group is based in DU, hostel and accommodation on campus has also been added as a topic of discussion.

One of the booklets released by the group is titled ‘Body’.

It talks about the definition of gender, which includes transgenders, consent in a sexual relationship, basic anatomy of the male and female reproductive organs and the myths attached to them. It also talks about health, hygiene, contraception and date rape.

Shreya Gupta, one of the editors of the booklet and a member of the group, said: “As part of gender studies, we conducted a number of seminars with students and found that there are a lot of misconceptions and half-cooked information available to them when it comes to issues like sexual health and sexual harassment. This is why we decided to come up with these booklets.”

“We have taken help of NGOs like TARSHI (Talking About Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues) and Jagori in compiling these booklets,” Ms. Gupta added.

Talking about the initiative, Prabhleen from Jagori said: “We extended support to the group since it is an extremely important step. The booklets they have brought out have been designed in a way that they provide relevant information without misguiding students. Also, it is very contemporary.”

The booklet on sexual minorities, for instance, talks about the LGBTQIA – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexuals, Trans, Queer, Intersex and Asexual — and explains each term.

It also talks about common myths related to homosexuality. Among these are questions like whether homosexuality is natural or not and if homosexuality is wrong?

A representative from TARSHI said: “They (Gender Studies Group) referred to our ‘The Blue Book’ for the booklets. In the absence of a comprehensive sexuality education curriculum for schools, we feel that it is a great initiative. There is considerable lack of appropriate information among the youth on issues related to gender and sexuality.”

The booklets are available at select places at Delhi University, including The Delhi School of Economics. The group, meanwhile, is soon planning to distribute these in individual colleges.

The booklets provide relevant information without misguiding the students

Talking about the birds and bees