Sexuality Education & Mental Health
Background
A sustainable change in an inclusive society cannot prosper on an unleveled field of gender disparity. NeoFusion Creative Foundation’s consistent work over the past two years aligning and accelerating the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, primarily Goal#5 – Gender Equality, has started to create ripples in the lives of its students.
All students at NeoFusion have engaged in open conversations on forbidden yet critically significant issues on menstruation, gender on the spectrum, and how gender shows up in their daily social lives. Self-awareness in the students was bolstered through a platform to express their voices through theatre workshops and the launch of the campaign #IWANATALK amidst the pandemic year.
Goal
To concretise this initiative and make it accessible to other adolescents and youth, on 2nd February 2021, International Sexuality Education Day, we launched the project. The project aims to create a safe space for adolescents and youth’s socio-emotional well-being along with a comprehensive sexuality education pedagogy approach that allows students to relate with their reality and make active learning empowering them as change-makers.
We have a specialised team of experts from various fields on our panel – Psychologists, Legal Advisors, Counsellors, and Art Mentors. A comprehensive module on sexuality education is developed. We also engage in educational awareness through our creative social media handles on Facebook/Instagram, that has garnered great public responses, including – queries on supporting non-binary children, dealing with physiological/emotional disturbances during puberty, etc.
Impact
Theatre allowed students to write the play, plan and express themselves. The process underscored grave social challenges adolescents and youth face, such as sexual abuse, identity loss, and navigating emotional disturbances. The campaign #IWANATALK live-streamed stories of the youth who needed to be heard, which was supported and appreciated across various social media platforms. As a result, we reached and impacted the lives of over 500 individuals, including our students’ parents, families, and friends.
Team
| Teacher | Subject |
|---|---|
Swati Vohra | Project Head |
Kuhoo Bhatnagar | Creative head |