Iesha, a Mumbai-based organisation provides adolescent sexuality and gender education, claim to have sessions with a 1,000 adolescents till now
An earlier session of Iesha in progress
“Sexuality is not just about sex. There is a lot more to talk about sexuality than in mere clinical terms,” says Gauri Lobo of Iesha, a Mumbai-based organisation that provides adolescent sexuality and gender education, who claim to have sessions with a 1,000 adolescents till now.
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Nilima Achwal, Kejal Shah and Gauravi Lobo
Later this week, the organisation will host an event, Sexpectations, an open forum to discuss sexuality at Ministry of New. “Here, we will provide a space for people to talk about taboo subjects. We will be unpacking and exploring perceptions around sexuality,” shares Lobo. The event, which will be moderated by the group, will be an open and interactive one where all participants will share their opinion and experiences. “We hope to see lively debate as we believe that there are plenty of different but right answers in the subject of sexuality,” she says. A line about Iesha’s background so far.
The event will involve activities like an ideological discussion about what is considered “right” and “wrong,” explore how attitudes and opinions are shaped by many different factors, and demonstrate how many different opinions can peacefully co-exist in the same room. Through this session they also want to discover what sexuality means to modern Mumbaikars, and how to balance the continually changing culture.
The session aims to create a non-biased and non-judgmental atmosphere for adults to discuss relationships, love, sexuality, and gender. “We just want to create a community where these topics can be talked about openly,” says Lobo. The participants will also take part in an activity in which they share personal stories. The event will also mark the official launch of Iesha Learning’s two courses for pre- and young adolescents on growing up: Growing Up Stuff and Smart Choices, which will be conducted at the Ministry of New starting in October.
This course, Lobo says, will also be different from usual sex education sessions as they focus on the immediate context of the urban Indian adolescent and the crisis that is unique to them. “Most sex education manuals are designed in the West with their perspective and context. The Indian adolescent, however, grows up in a different culture and yet, is now exposed to material from all over the world, thanks to the Internet. To meet that need we design our course contextually and even have Indian actors for the videos,” she signs off.
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