Abstract

A few days ago, I saw the UNICEF advertisement where one teenage girl got her monthly menstruation and unfortunately, she was in school, it was difficult for her to understand what is happening and other students started making fun of her. She must have been devastated not knowing what is happening to her and then other students laughing at her. It is rather surprising that a teenager is not aware of her body and nothing about her body, sex, menstruation is told to her. These kinds of incidents can be avoided when young children especially girls get education about their bodies and sex. Not many in the society in India and elsewhere are open to the idea of sex education. Talking about sex is considered a taboo in India and it’s still a hush-hush topic and can’t be discussed with parents, elders, teachers among others. It is astonishing that we shy away from this topic in the 21th century also. The question arises why we have made it a hush-hush topic. We keep this topic top secret, confidential and highly restrictive meaning we discuss it with few only or in restricted groups. It’s a natural instinct among human beings to be curious about sex. Amusingly sex education is considered a complete personal matter and is not in the public spheres. It is also believed, sex execution is for the west, Indian teenagers or young people need not have knowledge about it. This paper revamps the understanding of sex education in India and its cultural dimensions, the scope of sex education, its legal implication, and initiatives taken by the government of India and how do we take it ahead.

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