Bringing Together Pleasure and Politics: Sexuality Workshops in Rural India

Abstract

Summary Why is a positive and political approach to sexuality important? How might such an approach be actualised in trainings and workshops? What are the linkages between sexuality, gender justice and access to rights such as those related to bodily integrity? These are some of the key questions that this paper addresses. The paper is based on learnings that emerged from a programme initiated by Nirantar, a women's NGO that has been working on issues of gender, education and more recently, sexuality. The programme constitutes one of the first efforts in the Indian context to build perspectives on sexuality, through intensive workshops, with women from rural, poor communities as well as the organisations that work with. Through participatory exercises Nirantar introduced sophisticated and challenging ideas such as: women's right to say ‘yes’ to sex and ask for what they wanted as well as to say ‘no’ and how the two are closely linked; how control of women's sexuality oppresses women more generally; and how sex, sexuality and gender are socially constructed. Based on detailed minutes of the trainings, an external review of the impact, and on the author's personal experience as a facilitator, this paper describes the methods and shares learnings including the following: • It is indeed possible and welcome to talk about sexuality, particularly for rural women in this context who were far more at ease than the more middle class urban participants. • Sexuality and violence against women (VAW) are fundamentally connected. VAW may occur as a response to women expressing non-acceptable desires and women may return to abusive husbands in part because marriage is the only accepted place to fulfil their sexual desires. • Sexuality is integral to women's empowerment both because sexual fulfilment itself can be affirming, energising, and empowering, and because control of women's sexuality inhibits women's mobility, access to health care and education.