REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH KNOWLEDGE AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN A MARSHY ISLAND OF RURAL BANGLADESH

CARE-Bangladesh has conducted a study to explore the knowledge of the adolescent boys and girls on reproductive and sexual health using Participatory Research Appraisal and Focus Group Discussion. Data suggests that adolescent boys and girls are aware of physical and mental development that might take place during this period. Adolescent girls were concerned more about menarche and its management. Attaining menarche is still being treated as threshold point to adulthood in the society. This is the period when restriction on girl’s mobility is imposed.

While most of the adolescent boys admit that harassment of girls in the street is undesirable, they all seem subject to a “sense of thrill” obtained from passing comment to girls. Girls face gender discrimination from the parents, family and society from birth. This attitude of the community towards female children has lead to the development of a “hypothesis” to identify the female fetus at pregnancy which in turn has often evoked the need of clandestine unsafe abortion endangering the life of the women. Study suggests that adolescents have reasonable knowledge on reproductive and sexual health. There is also a sign of change in attitude of adolescents in the field of girl’s education and marriage.