Right to Sexual and Reproductive Health Education 2016
and the problems related to postnatal period. They were also able to list the
most common sexually transmitted diseases, sexual discomforts, difficulties
faced when conceiving, use of contraception, breastfeeding, puberty and
menstruation. However, apart from the participants who came from the
Health and Education sector, it was found that most of the public’s knowledge
on these issues were rudimentary, and often, their understanding on these
issues were limited to cases or issues which they have either experienced
personally, heard from someone close to them, or picked up from the
community.
Conversely, a large number of the participants noted that the social awareness
of SRH problems were on the rise and further noted that mothers were more
aware of the pregnancy related issues and were quite proactive in gaining
additional access to information related to pregnancy and sexual health. Also
that they are more proactive in getting medical aid via regular medical
checkups. According to the participants, the rise in the educated population
and changes in lifestyles had played a vital role in bringing about these
changes. Participants noted that the topic of SRH is better accepted now than
when compared to a few years ago where one would not even think of raising
such issues, especially in the public. A majority of the participants who were
married stated that their husbands have also become more aware of such
issues and are now more open to discussions.
9.2.1 Gender
Out of the 858 participants in the study, 385 were males and 473 were
females. When asked if they knew what reproductive health was, 42% of the
males and 37% of the females stated that they knew about reproductive
health. Whereas, 56% of the males and 60% of the females stated that they
did not know. 2% males and 3% females did not respond to the question.
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ANALYSIS OF FGDS