Hold on, purity and virginity are not so old-fashioned, say students

It is a campaign called Astraea, after the virgin Greek goddess of innocence, purity and justice. Students of the Jyoti Nivas College recently started the campaign in a bid to make it fashionable for young people to abstain from sex before marriage. 

“The goal of our campaign is to revive sexual abstinence, as well as create a forum for the discussion of premarital sex. Many youngsters succumb to the pressure to engage in a sexual relationship either on account of peer pressure or on the insistence of the partner. We want young women to see that saying ‘no’ is the wise thing to do, and we hope that encouraging students to be able to speak about these problems will help,” said Ayushi Garg, a third-year undergraduate student of Communicative English at Jyoti Nivas.

From opinion polls to special campaigns, the group has organised numerous activities to create awareness on the arguments for sexual abstinence. “We conducted an opinion poll about premarital sex and sex education in college. Students were given a blank card to write their views on these issues. These were later displayed. A huge crowd gathered around the display board to know what the others had written, and to understand the stance of the friends. This is a clear indication of the curiosity of students on these matters,” Garg said.

Students feel that the sexuality of the young is not addressed in a matter-of-fact manner. The lure of that first experience of sex could result in unwanted pregnancy at an early age, they feel. “There are numerous seminars about different forms of cancer. But nobody touches the topic of sexuality.  It is high time sex education became routine, a part of the curriculum of schools and colleges,” said Davina Munro, a student.

The group also conducts poster campaigns urging the introduction of sex education. “Many youngsters are curious. What harm can come from satiating that curiosity and providing accurate knowledge, instead of leaving students to depend on each other and grope about in the dark? Our aim is to provide a platform to discuss issues that students might not be able to, otherwise, and promote sex education,” said Nerissa D’Silva, a third-year BA student.

The group uses networking sites like Facebook and blogs to spread their message. “We will graduate this year. However, we wish to sustain the Astraea campaign even after we pass out. Our Facebook account has more than 96 members,” said Nerissa, who has also designed many of the posters that the campaign uses.