In order to create awareness about reproductive wellbeing and a healthy sexual life, it is important to consider every person as a human being, irrespective of their gender. Health, be it physical or mental, is the basis of a happy and satisfied life. Therefore, any efforts to nurture it and create awareness about its importance should be made with a sense of responsibility and with a feeling that it is the moral duty of every individual to contribute towards the realization of a healthy and disease-free society. When such thoughts prevail, one no longer feels the need to discriminate between genders, as far as their reproductive health is concerned. That is when men, women, trans and non-binary people alike are educated on the importance of having a healthy sexual life.
Having said that, it is now important to find out where the training begins. Undoubtedly, it is the responsibility of parents to take the reproductive health of their children seriously, and interact with them open-mindedly over any concerns that pop up in their heads. Many a time, parents have a perception that teaching their children about healthy sexual habits is appropriate only when they attain a certain age, say, puberty. However, in today’s technology-driven world, where there is so much exposure to varied information from a very early age, it is natural for a child to have curiosities from a very tender age. However, as parents do not find it advisable to address their concerns at that point of time, they brush them under the carpet. For instance, television ads featuring sanitary napkins and condoms, which are likely to raise questions in the mind of a child, are usually explained to them as something which they are not supposed to know.
Moving ahead with this mission of creating awareness about reproductive health, it is important that parents look for their children’s behavioural cues, in addition to manifestations of sexual development, on the level of their body. Also, parents should be actively involved in solving issues related to reproductive health (such as disturbances in the menstrual cycle in girls and those assigned female at birth), and also educate their children on the importance of maintaining sexual hygiene at crucial time points (such as during menstruation).
As children mature reproductively, they also experience hormonal changes. These changes have a profound influence on their emotional wellbeing, and this is the time when they begin to experience a need for connecting to their peers (be it in heterosexual or homosexual relationships). Taking this into consideration, it becomes all the more important for parents (as well as other elders in the family) to teach them the Dos and Dont’s of maintaining a healthy sexual relationship with their partner(s). At this stage, it is also important for educational institutions (such as schools) to include sex-education as a subject in their curriculum, wherein a formal training is imparted, on the Hows and Whys of sexual health.
Last but not the least, in addition to discussing this issue with friends, family, or in society at large, it is also important to communicate on sexual and reproductive health topics in clinical settings. Physicians and other health professionals can play a crucial role in helping people through counselling, and by sharing their expertise on sensitive but important issues concerning reproductive health, such as dealing with unwanted pregnancies and other sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV.