Youth need 'open, accurate approach' to sexual health

Youth need 'open, accurate approach' to sexual health

Duncan Graham
Contributor/Surabaya

To stay healthy and to be responsible, Indonesian youth should
have access to condoms and other contraceptives in places where
they feel relaxed about obtaining them, says a report on sexual
health based on local research.

Although young Indonesians are hungry for information on sex,
many parents, teachers and religious leaders believe education
should suppress youth sexuality.

The report, Youth, Sexuality and Sex Education Messages in
Indonesia: Issues of Desire and Control, by East Java academic
Dede Oetomo and Dutch social studies lecturer Brigitte Holzner,
was published in the May 2004 issue of British journal
Reproductive Health Matters.

"If sexuality is a form of knowledge-seeking that creates
identity and connectivity, then sexuality is not something
dangerous that should be suppressed," the authors said.

"Young people can have a healthy, informed and responsible
sexual life. By providing information and the means to sexual
health, we actually reduce the risk of young people inflicting
harm on themselves," they stressed.

"Non-prohibition does not mean 'you must have sex'; on the
contrary it means having information and the acceptance of
desire, dialogue, negotiation and pleasure. This is the meaning
of empowering young people in relation to sexuality.

"(However) the dominant prohibitive discourse in Java denies
and denounces youth sexuality as abnormal, unhealthy, illegal or
criminal, reinforced through intimidation about the dangers of
sex."

Research for the report included open discussions with young
people in Surabaya and analyzing the contents of youth magazines
and publications on sexual health.

The authors observed that young Indonesians were fortunate to
be living in a country with one of the freest presses in Asia,
where the opportunities to discuss sexuality were growing.

A highlight of this press freedom was the hostile public
reaction to a new draft Criminal Code that sought to prohibit
adultery, cohabitation, oral sex and homosexuality under the age
of 18. Outraged citizens demanded that the government keep out
of their bedrooms, a response Dede and Holzner described as
"refreshingly strong".

Celebrity, music and fashion magazines also invite readers to
write about their lives and ask questions about relationships.
The researchers found that replies to such questions did not
carry "preachy remarks" from "nanny-like parent figures" or treat
young people as incapable of taking care of themselves.

The images of young people found in the magazines also did not
show them as frightened of sexuality and needing protection;
instead they were depicted as experimenting with pleasure with
caution and responsibility.

Most participants in the group discussions had already engaged
in some form of sexual activity. Only a few thought they should
maintain their virginity until marriage; none had read government
publications about sexuality.

"Our sample did not seem to be impressed by proscriptions by
State and religious sources," the authors said. "They relied on
their own will and found the information they needed. They were
not activists for sexual rights, but young citizens living a
right that officially is denied to them."

Dede, a special reader in the social sciences postgraduate
program at the University of Surabaya, is also prominent in the
Indonesian gay rights movement. He told The Jakarta Post that
many young people were damaged by the lack of reproductive health
services and accurate information about sex.

The damage included unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions,
sexually transmitted diseases like HIV /AIDS, depression and
suicide.

"For example, girls become pregnant while still at school
because they don't have access to contraceptives," he said.
"These are only provided to `married couples'. In most cases, the
girl is expelled and her future ruined."

He concluded: "Young people must be able to be active citizens
in their society, have pleasure and confidence in relationships
and all aspects of sexuality."