SEX and Sexuality contd

Today's 8th session at OPEN SPACE ,was the 2nd and last day of the two day long session on Sex and Sexuality. We started the session by not answering Hans's questions but instead by throwing a volley of questions at him about him, where he came from, why did he come to Pune etc.. etc.



Then we moved on to talk about the third gender or transgender(in India called the 'Chakkas'). Hans told us that there are three levels of euneuchs:

1) Hemaphrodite- They are the ones born with both male and female sex organs. I t is a very rare case.



2) Transsexuals-They are people who feel they are in a wrong body i.e a man in a woman's body and a woman in a man's body .In rich countries the men pump in estrogen to grow in breasts.The other way is by operation .In operation method there are two types:
a) Theatre method
b) Wire method .Both are equally painful methods.

3) Transvestite: These are the people who feel they are living in the wrong body but do not undergo operations and live with those organs.
Eg: A man who is mentally a woman ,does not undergo any operation but he wears female clothes.

We also talked about how the Asia Pacific Network Of Sex Workers (APNSW) which works with these transgenders. We also discussed about Indian Penal Code 377 which puts a ban on anal sex( sodomy) .

Then we were shocked when next, Hans removed a condom packet and with that a dummy penis and vagina .We all looked at each other and wonderd what it was for .
I actually saw how a condom looks for the first time .We were all shown a demo on how to use the condom and practically had to do the same.
We also spoke about HIV and AIDS . HIV as we all know is the virus that causes AIDS and targets the immune system.But let's be clear of one thing, being infected with HIV does not mean that person has AIDS.We learnt how HIV is transmitted and also about the 4 stages of HIV ie: Asymptomatic, Clinical Stage 1 , Clinical Stage 2 and the fourth stage of HIV is AIDS.In India, we have 5.7 mn HIV + people ( something we cannot be proud of) and globally there are 40 mn HIV+ people.

HIV is linked only to sex which makes it shameful .There are other ways also by which HIV can be transmitted but in all our minds only the word 'SEX' gets associated with HIV and AIDS.

Then we came to the last topic of child sexual abuse , where we were given excerpts from Pinky Virani's book " Bitter Chocolate" . We took turns in reading the story about how a three month old child was sexually abused by a 17yr old boy ( isn't the age shocking!!!)

Child sexual abuse includes :
1) An adult exposing his or her genitals to a child or persuading the child to do the same.

2) An adult having oral, vaginal or anal intercourse with a child.

3) Any verbal or other sexual suggestion to a child by an adult.

The definition of child sexual abuse is " any sexual behaviour directed at a person under 16 yrs of age without that person's informed consent".
The session ended with Hans tellingus to be informed , talk to people and participate in the campaign .

It is upto us youth and educated people to spread the right message about HIV and AIDS, sexual abuse to people we know so that we can in our own way create a difference to the world and remember: RESPECT YOUR BODY AND SEXUALITY.


Posted by : MAHALAKSHMI.G