It is not at all supposed to be a surprising fact that the very act of sex is still considered to be a taboo for discussing openly in many parts of the world. Naturally, sexual health problems are something which are even greater abominations, which on discovery is bound to raise eyebrows among the people and question the sexual conduct the individual observes. In case the victim is a woman in such a social system, the share of problems tend to magnify themselves and pose even greater problems. India is one such country where similar sentiments are nurtured about sex, and women are the worst victims of such a social order (Dean et al., 2017). It is extremely common for women of India to suppress issues related to sexual health as that shall incur a lot of criticisms for them. Moreover, the facilities that are available in the country seem not to be favourably disposed towards women in providing them with the necessary aid and advice. Somehow, women tend to face situations whereby they are made to feel that they ought to be guilty about the fact that they have incurred some sexually transmitted disease. It is thus quite obvious that the statistical reports showcasing the scenario of the sexual health related issues of the women of India shall not be something very optimistic (Dean et al., 2017).
This is a background to the discussion that is about to be taken up in the following sections of the essay. The thesis statement shall be concerning itself with the reasons as to why women incur sexual health problems in India and why are they restrained from seeking recourse to their problems from a sociological perspective albeit, not from a medical one.
There is nothing special about Indian women incurring sexual diseases as that is a global phenomenon. However the sociological scenario that prevails in the country has to say a lot about the issue.
As it has already been mentioned in the background information that sex is a tabooed topic in the Indian context, and that emanates from the fact that there prevails unabated ignorance about the sexual health issues, couple with illiteracy, lack of education and the strong antithetical social behaviour to bring about a change in the status quo of the thought process. This conservative bent of mind has given birth to a sense of consciousness that there could not exist something as sexual health problems at all. This is not something which is restricted just to the rural and tribal areas of the country, similar scenario is also prevalent in the urban areas of the country as well (Kelly, 2016).
The factor of hygiene is another very crucial factor which causes sexual health problems, and that is once again something which emanates from the factor of ignorance and lack of awareness. In this regard the rural and tribal women of India face much more problems than their elite and urban counterparts. The menstrual health of women are thoroughly ignored, as it is something which is treated more as something impure, obnoxious and unholy, rather than a natural, biological bodily process (Singh, Sinha & Jain, 2015). Women are categorically ostracized from entering kitchens, religious places or even from sitting down for meals with the family members during those days of the month when they undergo their menstrual cycle. Simply because of the fact that women supposedly turn unclean during those days. On the contrary the state of menstrual hygiene observed by women is quite low. The rural and tribal women of the country especially have very little access to sanitary napkins or tampons, which drives them to rely on rags and other unhygienic things. Very recently in the year 2017 the central government of the country has levied the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on sanitary napkins which has made it more difficult for women of the underprivileged to gain access to them (Ismail et al., 2015).
Usually, it is advised that women refrain from any sexual intercourses during those days of the month, but some women do undergo rapinous attempts of the consummation of the sexual desires by their husbands which pose serious problems for their sexual health. That is also a violation of their bodily autonomy apart from a risk jeopardizing their sexual health (Rao, Darshan, & Tandon, 2015). Also, a lacuna in the observance of safe sexual practices emanating from a lack of awareness, and the reluctance on part of the men takes its toll on the sexual health of the women. Survey reports by WHO and other NGOs functioning in various parts of India have concluded that the men are reluctant to use condoms while engaging in sexual practices, and the level of hygiene which they observe is quite low, and that exerts its negative impacts on the sexual health of women. The global ranking of Indian women suffering from HIV AIDS is thus quite high (Cornish, 2016).
Women also incur serious infections as the toilet facilities in rural India especially is very scarce, forcing them to defecate and urinate in fields, which is a compromise on their personal hygiene and sanitation. Despite the efforts from the government to build toilets in rural India, and the NGOs to orient the masses about the utilities of using toilets, there no substantial change has been brought about. Even in urban areas, especially the public toilet facilities for women are not hygienic (Ismail et al., 2015).
Women are by and large considered as child producing machines, and in some instances the women are not even provide enough scope to recover from the physical stress of undergoing a delivery, rather they are immediately forced into getting pregnant once again.The virtue of attaining motherhood is highly celebrated in India, however the post delivery care of the mother is hardly taken care of, especially in rural India. Even today in some parts of the country the traditional methods of delivery are practiced which is not hygienic and can be fatal as well (Castle & Askew, 2015). Female genital mutilation is another social practice which affects the sexual health of women of India. Practiced by a miniscule minority of the population, amongst the Bohra Muslims specifically, to preserve the pre-marital virginity and for controlling the sexual desires of women. Since that is not performed by any medical practitioner, the chances of incurring sexual health problems get escalated heavily. Several Women Rights Campaigners have devoted their efforts to put an end to the practice (Castle & Askew, 2015).
These are the social factors that causes the women of India to suffer from sexual health problems.
It would be an understatement that the facilities for catering to the sexual health problems of women are absent in India. Rather, they are limited in its outreach to the general public. In the urban areas the facilities can still be found but in rural areas they are almost nil. Even in the urban areas, the facilities that are present are accessible to only the affluent section of the society. This is the logistical restraining factor which prevents women from seeking medical attention on sexual health issues. As it is facilities are scarce, and on top of that the reluctance on part of the patients to avail of medical consultation which worsens the matter even more.
Lack of privacy and an unnecessary encroachment on the personal lives of the women by the medical consultants is something which is not very uncommon in the country. Survey reports have concluded that women tend to suppress their sexual diseases to avoid embarrassment, or they have faced moral policing and unnecessary sermonizations from their consultants while they had been to get diagnosed with the sexual health issue they have been facing. Women those who have faced the latter once tend to restrain themselves from visiting the physician further (MacQuarri, 2009).
Fear of discovery amongst the women is another restraining factor which holds back the women from seeking medical intervention. There is this constant fear of discovery of the fact that she must have indulged in sexual promiscuity and has lost her virginity. In some cases the medical practitioner refuses to treat the female patient unless they bring their parents along, or some guardian (International HIV/AIDS Alliance, 2006). This bias emanates from the social climate which is obsessed with the conduct of women and sexual promiscuity or activeness on their part is treated with contempt. This is the kind of embarrassment which women face for getting treated for minor issues like urinary tract infection, or other problems in the sexual organs. Severe cases like contracting HIV AIDS can incur severe societal backlash. Sometimes it can even lead to the victim to be banished from the settlement facilities. The scenario at hospitals are no good either as even the support staff tend to treat them quite harsh apart from violating their privacies (Sharma, Kharakwal & Agarwal, 2018).
Conclusion
Thus it can be concluded that the society in India is extremely sexist and the toll of it falls on women, both emotionally and physically. The problem in India which restricts women from seeking access to the medical facilities in case of incurring sexual health problems is more social in nature. In this regard it has to be cleared out that sexually transmitted diseases and sexual health problems are not the same. The former involves indulgence in sexual activities while the latter simply concerns itself with the problems in the sexual organs and that need not always be a cause of sexual activities. This basic distinction is not realized by many and the brunt of it is faced by the women.
References
Castle, S., & Askew, I. (2015). Contraceptive discontinuation: Reasons challenges and solutions. 2016.
Cornish, F. (2016). Targeting HIV or Targeting Social Change? The Role of Indian Sex Workers’ Collectives in Challenging Gender Relations. In Gender and HIV/AIDS (pp. 135-156). Routledge.
Dean, L., Tolhurst, R., Khanna, R., & Jehan, K. (2017). ‘You’re disabled, why did you have sex in the first place?’An intersectional analysis of experiences of disabled women with regard to their sexual and reproductive health and rights in Gujarat State, India. Global health action, 10(sup2), 1290316.
International HIV/AIDS Alliance. (2006). Tools together now: 100 participatory tools to mobilise communities for HIV/AIDS.
Ismail, S., Shajahan, A., Rao, T. S., & Wylie, K. (2015). Adolescent sex education in India: Current perspectives. Indian journal of psychiatry, 57(4), 333.
Kelly, L. (2016). Sexuality and South Asian Women: a Taboo?. In Moving in the Shadows (pp. 90-102). Routledge.
MacQuarrie, K. L. (2009, September). The Unfolding of Women’s Empowerment over the Life Course in Madhya Pradesh, India: The Influence of Family Formation and Early Empowerment Resources. In Paper for the XXVI IUSSP International Population Conference.
Rao, T. S., Darshan, M. S., & Tandon, A. (2015). An epidemiological study of sexual disorders in south Indian rural population. Indian journal of psychiatry, 57(2), 150.
Sharma, S., Kharakwal, S., & Agarwal, P. (2018). A STATISTICAL STUDY OF HIV POSITIVE FEMALES WITH HIV POSITIVE AND HIV NEGATIVE PARTNERS AND KEY FACTORS IN TRANSMISSION. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, 6(4).
Singh, A. K., Sinha, R. K., & Jain, R. (2015). Examining Nonconsensual Sex and Risk of Reproductive Tract Infections and Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Young Married Women in India. In Gender-Based Violence (pp. 169-193). Springer, Cham.
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