NATIONAL REPORT: INDIA Religious Fundamentalism and Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in South India Building New Constituencies for Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR): Interlinkages Between Religion and SRHR This report was supported by the European Union Rural Women’s Social Education Centre (RUWSEC), India NATIONAL REPORT Religious Fundamentalism and Comprehensive Published by: Sexuality Education (CSE) in South India Rural Women’s Social Education Centre (RUWSEC) Rural Women’s Social Education Centre (RUWSEC) 61, Karumarapakkam Village, Veerapuram (Post) Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women Thirukazhukundrum (Via), Kanchipuram District (ARROW) Tamil Nadu, India 603109 Telephone: +91-44-27491254 ISBN: 978-93-5267-578-4 Email: [email protected], [email protected] 2016 Website: www.ruwsec.org Facebook: ruwsec.india Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women This work is licensed under the Creative Commons (ARROW) Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License. To 1 & 2 Jalan Scott, Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons. Telephone: +603 22739913/9914 org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Fax: +603 22739916 Email: [email protected] Any part of the text of the publication may be photocopied, Website: www.arrow.org.my reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted Facebook: The Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre in any form by any means, or adapted and translated to for Women (ARROW) meet local needs, for non-commercial and non-profit Twitter: @ARROW_Women purposes. However, the copyright for images used YouTube: youtube.com/user/ARROWomen remains with the respective copyright holders. All forms of copies, reproductions, adaptations, and translations Production Team: through mechanical, electrical, or electronic means Writers: P. Balasubramanian (Phd), Rajalakshmi Ram Prakash should acknowledge ARROW as the source. A copy of the and N. Srilakshmi reproduction, adaptation, and/or translation should be sent Reviewers: A.K Ravishankar (Phd) and Azra Abdul Cader to ARROW. In cases of commercial usage, ARROW must be Copy Editor: Sharni Jayawardena contacted for permission at [email protected]. Proof Reader: B. Cauvery Layout Design: Pathum Ranaweera, Lionsbay Holdings (Pvt.) Ltd., Sri Lanka Layout: G.V. Suresh, SIRINI Printer, India Photo Credit: RUWSEC, Shutterstock 2 National Report on Building New Constituencies for Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR): Interlinkages between Religion and SRHR CONTENTS Acknowledgements ii List of Acronyms iii List of Tables and Figures iv Executive Summary v 1. Introduction 01 2. Profiling India: SRHR and Religious Fundamentalism 05 3. Understanding the Interlinkages 12 4. Conclusions 23 5. Recommendations 25 6. List of References 27 7. Appendices 31 3 Rural Women’s Social Education Centre (RUWSEC), India ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research was supported by the European Union and and parents, who had agreed to be part of the study, and done in collaboration with the Asian-Pacific Resource and without whom it would not have been possible. The work of Research Centre for Women (ARROW), Malaysia. We are the field data team is also gratefully acknowledged. also grateful to the respondents, including young people ii National Report on Building New Constituencies for Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR): Interlinkages between Religion and SRHR LIST OF ACRONYMS AEP Adolescent Education Programme AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome ARSH Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health AWID Association of Women in Development BJP Bharathiya Janatha Party CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CRC Child Rights Convention CSE Comprehensive Sexuality Education FGDs Focus Group Discussions FLE Family Life Education HIV Human Immune Deficiency Virus HRD Human Resource Development ICPD International Conference on Population and Development IDI In-depth Interviews IIPS International Institute of Population Sciences IPPF International Planned Parenthood Federation MHRD Ministry of Human Resource Development NACO National AIDS Control Organisation NACP National AIDS Control Policy NPP National Population Policy NYP National Youth Policy RSS Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh RUWSEC Rural Women’s Social Education Centre RMNCH+A Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health SC/ST Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes SD Standard Deviation SRH Sexual and Reproductive Health Services SRHR Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights STI Sexually Transmitted Infections UNICEF United Nations Children’s Education Fund WHO World Health Organisation iii Rural Women’s Social Education Centre (RUWSEC), India LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1 Household characteristics 34 Table 2 Background characteristics of the respondents by sex 34 Table 3 Responses to statements on three domains of religiosity 35 Figure 1 Attitudes towards the content of sexuality education 19 iv National Report on Building New Constituencies for Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR): Interlinkages between Religion and SRHR EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The research aims to explore how religious fundamentalism of religious interpretation to justify certain actions over affects the implementation of Comprehensive Sexuality others. Survey participants had a positive attitude towards Education (CSE) in India and helps to understand how the young people’s sexuality, towards marrying a partner of religiosity of the parents of young people affects their choice, and inter-religious marriages. However, when awareness and attitudes towards sexuality education and its probed, there were strong disagreements regarding inter- course content. The research has two major components: caste marriages, which was seen as being inconsistent a desk review focusing on the national level and a field with culture. Contrary to the common belief, this research study in a southern state of India using qualitative and finds that religiosity could encourage a favourable attitude quantitative methods. towards young people’s sexuality. The findings from the desk review show that although Parents’ awareness about the sexuality education India has policies on adolescents and young people’s programme was very low although an overwhelming Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), the majority had a favourable attitude towards the topics of issues and needs of young people are not adequately discussion, including gender, gender-based violence against addressed. There are wide gaps in the implementation of women, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI’s) and HIV/ these policies due to poor accountability and monitoring AIDS. However, there were some disagreements among mechanisms. A landmark programme for adolescents—the them about sexuality, sexual relations, conception and Adolescent Education Programme (AEP) of 2006—met contraception. Poorer respondents were more aware of with controversy and debate, and concerted efforts were the sexuality education programme as they have more made to withdraw the programme. The Parliamentary exposure to SRH awareness programmes. Although there is Committee constituted to review the programme and its a strong support to provide sexuality education among the core curriculum strongly recommended to withdraw the rural parents, a majority of them expressed reservations programme stating it is against Indian culture and moral about the availability of contraceptive services and abortion values. A content analysis of the Parliamentary Committee services being made available for young people. report clearly reveals that religious fundamentalism in Overall, the results found that the effect of parents’ India, stressing on culture and nationalism, had played a religiosity on sexuality education was positive. Thus, mere strong role in banning the programme. The Committee’s following of faith, involving in religious activities and recommendations were completely opposite to India’s practices in regular life, was not a hindrance to young youth policies and programmes, most importantly, they people’s sexuality or sexuality education programme. The contradict international treaties and agreements which findings of the study are concurrent with other studies India has signed. Above all, the review sensed an emerging (Ramachandran 2000, Mahajan 2005, Patil 2006, Chowkani connection between right -wing ideologies, the denial of 2013 and Niharika and Sekar 2013) in India that both parents comprehensive sexuality education and increase in different and young people who are the main stakeholders of the forms of sexual violence on the young people. sexuality education programme have a favourable attitude The results of the field study with parents in Tamil Nadu towards it, but only religious leaders and politicians with explored the effect of religiosity in shaping their attitude fundamentalist attitudes are against the introduction of towards young people’s sexuality and sexuality education. sexuality education and use arbitrary notions of culture and The findings are indicative of the influence of religion and norms to thwart that. religious beliefs on the actions of people, and the use v Rural Women’s Social Education Centre (RUWSEC), India 1. INTRODUCTION India has one of the world’s largest adolescent and youth in gender sensitive and adolescent friendly ways, which populations. According to the Population Census 2011, will empower them to protect their