Why Northeast India needs comprehensive sexuality education

In India, including the Northeast, talking about sex is considered culturally inappropriate and we often see adults avoid the discussion altogether. As a result, adolescents (aged 10-19 years) are denied access to comprehensive sexuality education, which not only teaches them about sexuality but also equips them with knowledge, skills and values that can help them protect their health, well-being and rights. 

There is a high price we pay for depriving adolescents of comprehensive sexuality education. Adolescents comprise roughly one-fifth of the population in India, including the Northeast. Even though the legal age of marriage has been 18 for women and 21 for men for the last four decades, child marriages are widely prevalent across India. In the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5)—the most comprehensive data on reproductive health and family welfare—23 percent of women aged 20-24 years reported getting married before the age of 18. The picture is grimmer in the Northeast with 40.1 percent of women in Tripura and 31.8 percent in Assam reporting that they got married before the age of 18. Manipur reported an increase in child marriage from 13.7 percent in 2015-16 to 16.3 percent in 2019-21.

While across India, 6.8 percent of girls aged 15 to 19 years reported that they were already mothers or pregnant at the time of the survey, four states in the Northeast comprising (Meghalaya, Manipur, Assam, and Tripura) reported a higher number than the national figure. Tripura reported the highest percentage of teenage pregnancy at 21.9 percent and Meghalaya at 7.2 percent. Across India, 23 percent of women aged 15 to 24 years reported not using a hygienic method of protection during menstrual periods. The same number in Meghalaya stood at 35 percent, Assam at 34 percent, and Tripura at 31 percent.