These Nepalese Women Are Creating Awareness About Sexual Health
- JWB Post
- October 15, 2016
In a minuscule office in Nepal’s Kathmandu, seven women are taking questions about sexuality head on. Yes, I am speaking of the Meri Saathi helpline in Nepal which is a big hit among the people of the country where unsafe abortion accounts for 5 per cent of maternal deaths.
The helpline, which was launched by Maria Stopes International in 2011, is getting loads of calls every day from, primarily people from the younger demographic who have queries on a large array of topics.
Leading the team of counselors is Hima Mishra, who feels that there is a dire need for awareness on sex and sexual health.
The queries primarily relate to sex, contraception, and abortion. Given the fact that only 38 per cent women in Nepal know about the country’s law on abortion, this is a question that often goes unanswered.
At present, the Meri Saathi helpline is getting at least 150 calls every day with adolescent boys forming a substantial chunk of the callers.
Mishra says that most of these boys want to know about masturbation and whether an excess of it could result in health problems.
In a country like Nepal, where sex is still a taboo subject, these women are showing great patience and grit in answering such questions every day to spread awareness about sexuality.
Similarly, the young women who call at the helpline wants to know about premarital sex, sex outside marriage, and safe abortions.
The counselors also put the women in touch with Meri Saathi clinics near the places where they live so that they could get proper medical help and don’t have to believe on quack doctors.
We should take a cue from this laudable initiative and try to introduce similar helplines in every city in India as well since we all know that when it comes to sexual awareness, India is still lagging far behind as compared to many other countries.
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