Sex Museum Aims to Break Indian Taboo

The organizers of India's first sex museum in Mumbai, who also run a clinic for STDs just one floor below, were incredulous at the level of ignorance about sex when they visited local schools. Male teenagers thought babies came out of a woman's stomach, had no clue what a woman's genitals looked like or how reproduction happened. Girls thought they had suffered some strange internal damage when their periods began. Indeed, many rural men rarely even see their wives completely naked.

Given the taboo on the subject of sex, museum organizers have been deliberately explicit. The museum exhibits include fiberglass models of men, women and their genitalia, explanations of how a baby is conceived, models explaining how to use condoms, and illustrations on menstruation and AIDS.

AIDS workers believe it is time for such explicitness. With 4 million Indians HIV-infected, awareness campaigns will be crucial in stopping the spread of AIDS. This is why Chandrababu Naidu, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, is using shock tactics. He wants condoms displayed at all official functions, handed out free at all liquor shops, and made available through vending machines at roadside cafes on the highways and railway platforms.

Naidu upset legislators recently by displaying a 2.3-meter condom inside parliament. When they grumbled at the "indecency," he told them it was precisely this kind of attitude that had to be fought. Few Indian parents tell their children about sex, so Naidu made sure normal classwork was put on hold recently so that children could be taught about AIDS. UNICEF helped design the special course, making it interactive and child-friendly. Students will also have to prepare projects on AIDS, which will be evaluated and graded. Targeting the young is important: 45 percent of all HIV-infected people in the state are ages 15-24.

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