importance of sex education

‘’Sister Fani’’ was the household name of a paternal Cousin who lived with us in my parent’s house. During her stay in my parent’s house Fani was doing an apprenticeship in sewing. She was that naïve girl from the village who was exited with city life in local parlance we say “Jonny just come” and had little or no knowledge about sexuality.

As a young girl which is usually the case, men started approaching for love affairs and in hiding she started having amorous affairs with some of the men. After a period of time Fani got pregnant and she decided to confine in some of her peers who prescribed some local concoction’s to help her get rid of her pregnancy and fortunately it worked. Fani continued her affairs with men which ended up again with an unwanted pregnancy. In an attempt to get rid of the pregnancy Fani bleed almost to death fortunately for her she was rushed to the hospital and she recovered after proper medical attention. Fani decided to relocate to another of her relative’s house in a different town because she could not withstand the shame and mockery that resulted in the neighborhood due to the atrocities she had committed. A few years after this incident news came to my Parents that Fani had died while still attempting to get rid of another pregnancy. This time around the concoction’s she took destroyed all her inner organs and she had to be buried immediately because of the condition of her corpse.

Abortion is a reality in my community affecting many girls of child bearing ages and women both married and unmarried. Similar stories can be told of crude abortion and their consequences:

Maternal cousin who became dumb as a result of crude abortion

Young girl in my neighborhood who became partially deaf and her speech also impaired due to crude abortion

Many other stories of girls and women who have destroyed their wombs and can no longer bear children as a result of crude abortion.

Daughter of my neighbor who died trying to abort a five months old fetus. I know of many other stories of girls and women who have died trying to abort unwanted pregnancies using unorthodox methods.

Sexuality is intrinsic to humans hence there is a need to educate both sexes about their sexuality so that they are aware of the pros and cons of sex and are not taken unawares. This sensitization must begin at the level of the family every parent must see it as a responsibility to educate their children about sex. Sex should not be a taboo subject because we live it every day via the mass media and in family settings. Early proper sex education will help to prevent unwanted pregnancies and STD’s and STI’s.