Tuoi
Tre newspaper hosted a consultation session on sex and abstinence for young
university and high school students Friday at its Ho Chi Minh City office.
Chaired by sexual health specialist Le Thuy
Tuoi, the event, named “How to say no to sweet talks” drew some dozens of Tuoi
Tre’s young readers to discuss how to abstain from sex and other sex and
relationship topics.
A veteran expert who has for years worked in
reproductive health in Vietnam, Doctor Tuoi said abstinence was a suitable
attitude towards sex for Vietnamese youth, especially in the context of a
closed and traditional society like Vietnam’s.
The country’s culture remains skeptical toward
sex before marriage and female virginity is still a concept deep-rooted in the
Vietnamese psyche.
Still a taboo subject in modern Vietnam, sex
education has not been incorporated into its education system, thus “many young
people, especially girls have very limited knowledge of sexual and reproductive
health”, Dr. Tuoi said.
Most of them, especially young girls remain
vulnerable to unprotected sex which leads to unwanted pregnancy, sexually
transmitted disease and illegal abortion.
She cited Vietnam being ranked among the top 3
countries having the highest rate of abortion in the world as an example.
“These young girls always have to bear the
most damaging social, physical and psychological consequences from these”, the
doctor warned.
Parenting plays a big role, as most Vietnamese
parents don’t get trust from their children, who rarely seek help or advice on
sex and relationship from their family, or only do so when it is too late, she
said.
Ms. Tra, a small business owner who came with
her daughter agreed and told Tuoitrenews “I brought her here so that she can
know all these useful information that I can’t not tell her.”
Touching upon male psychology, the session
also discussed male-dominant marriage relationships where women will be at a
disadvantage if they have pre-marital sex.
The session is more of a discussion on how to
overcome sexual desire before marriage than a direct and upfront sharing of how
to have safe sex.
After all, it is apparently not practical to
compress such a broad topic into a 2-hour talk.
However, the doctor’s humor and friendliness
helped these students who were at times too shy to speak out their own
concerns.
“When your boyfriend comes when there is
nobody at home, and he asks for sex while you are not ready for it, or don’t
want it, how would you react and protect yourself?” is one of the scenarios
that Dr. Tuoi had for her young audience.
At the end of the session, Nguyen Phuoc Hong
An, a freshman at Hong Bang university (Ho Chi Minh) said she now knew how to
say no to such a circumstance and that she had the right and responsibility to
her own body and feelings.
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