Written by: Ram Aravind
Note: Every year, millions of adolescents die of preventable or treatable causes. When it comes to discussing sexual health, Indians are perceived to be notoriously reluctant. As the hesitancy to discuss important health issues of the youth grows, the largest population of adolescents in the history of mankind face tremendous challenges in realising their potential and contributing towards Sustainable Development Goals. Through participatory research methods to explore adolescent health, Ram Aravind makes the point that it is possible to get a community talking about issues this matter. Postponing action from the state, civil society as well as community, will delay progress and prove to be detrimental to nations looking to harness the power of demographic dividend.
Social metamorphosis has its roots strongly embedded in the local culture. However, the social-cultural milieu has done little in improving the sexual well-being of India’s 253 million adolescent boys and girls. Conversations around sex are still considered taboo, and archaic practices and attitude deprive young women of dignity during their periods.
As we dive further into our exploration of social and cultural factors that influence adolescent heath in urban informal settlements through ‘Our Health, Our Voice’ study, it is vital that spaces for a healthy dialogue around sexual health are realised. After all, participatory research isn’t just ‘ordinary research’.
Traditionally ascribed to ‘conservative’ rural settings, the hesitation and stigma attached to discussing sex and sexuality rather extends beyond the geographical boundaries of India’s villages. Our young urban population is at a crossroads of a digital revolution that affords much more information and awareness on a wide range of topics than its preceding generation.
The virtual world affords them anonymity and provides a ‘space’ to be heard, but as teens struggle to cope with the different pleasures of ‘urbanisation’ and hesitancy in the ‘physical world’ to engage in topics (mis)construed as ‘uncomfortable’, sometimes, the critical topics of adolescent growth tend to be brushed under the carpet. A 2015 study by the Population Council and Indian Institute of Population Studies (IIPS) estimated that half of the pregnancies in India are unintended.
For a researcher in the process of exploring health-seeking behaviour of young people from low-income urban households (including children of migrant workers), my first set of apprehensions revolved around the following questions:
How would the community take to questions regarding intimacy and sexual partners?
How would the parents react if their wards were to be questioned about sexually transmitted diseases?
How do we get the adolescents in a community to open up about other discreet harmful practices including tobacco consumption and drug abuse?
The purpose of conducting a participatory research is to encourage the community to become ‘active participants’ in knowledge creation and not ‘passive recipients’ of knowledge. However, it cautions the researcher against forming pre-conceived notions about community behaviour.
During the course of the participatory survey, along with the community and student researchers, I realised that adolescents were more than willing to let us into their lives and share intimate details about their health and well-being as opposed to our initial clouded perceptions. They wanted to raise their voices and be heard. Their expression was powerful and, hence, they were better-placed to articulate their needs, opinions and aspirations.
Social science researchers need to treat study participants as ‘partners’ and not ‘subjects’. Adopting the patronising attitude of an expert-researcher looking to extract information would have backfired and prevented the community from trusting our intentions. To tell the boys that ‘innocently’ teasing women constituted abuse and to tell the girls that menstruation shouldn’t constrict social participation among other things wouldn’t have been possible if the researcher hadn’t adopted a participatory approach.
At the end of the survey, I can indeed declare that the researchers have succeeded in initiating conversations — not just with the youth but also parents, teachers and other community leaders. Over the course of the study, as the community and researchers work towards achieving a common goal, a shared understanding of the reality of adolescents will pave the way for a smooth path. An active peer group in the community was an idea born out of our interactions. We would indeed want that such spaces be created and sustained.