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Groups aim to curb premarital sex

Caritas campaigns educate youths on moral, health risks of sexual activity
Groups aim to curb premarital sex
Salesian sister Zita Rema instructs participants during a recent moral formation seminar
Published: July 19, 2011 07:21 AM GMT
Updated: July 19, 2011 07:21 AM GMT

Religious groups have stepped up efforts to curb underage and premarital sex in the capital, where adolescents and youths comprise a large percentage of the population. Groups including the Salesian Sisters and Missionaries of Charity, along with Caritas, the social arm of the Catholic Church, have established awareness campaigns to address an issue they say has severe health, as well as moral, implications. “The adverse effects of Western culture, the availability of pornographic films and the abusive use of mobile phones and the internet are to be blamed for such moral degradation,” said Salesian Sister Zita Rema, 40, a tribal Garo Catholic nun. “Young people are exceeding the boundary and promise of love and eventually fall prey to various social problems,” she added. Edward Pallab Rozario, a Caritas HIV/AIDS project coordinator, highlighted the health risks of indiscriminate sexual activity among young people. “As far as I know, there are at least 45 Christian AIDS patients [in Dhaka], and 70 percent of them are young people. Most had no moral formation instructions and no idea about how they can become HIV-positive,” he said. Church groups have pointed to a survey of sexual activity among adolescents and youths conducted by the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research-Bangladesh in 2005 and 2006 to explain the urgency of the issue and the need for greater education and intervention. The survey found that among the 1,013 youths between the ages of 15 and 24 interviewed who frequented hotels for the purpose of sex, about 50 percent had their first sexual experience before the age of 18. Nearly 20 percent of youths interviewed reported that they had never used a condom, the report stated, further noting that in most cases, sexual partners were either professional or casual sex workers. Sister Rema said awareness campaigns focus on educating young people about the appropriate context for sexual experiences. “We organize seminars for youths in various Church areas and parishes." Information includes "ways of talking, laughing, touching, or if they can kiss or have physical relations with their partner,” she said. Caritas also arranges presentations at schools and universities as well as counseling services for HIV/AIDS patients, project coordinator Edward Pallab Rozario said. An AIDS patient, who asked not to be identified, warned young people to think about the consequences of their actions. “Today I’m an AIDS patient because of my indiscipline and immoral life. I urge young people like me to avoid such immoral actions,” he said.

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