Moscow has more than its share of raunchy nightclubs, strip joints and prostitutes. Sidewalk peddlers sell X-rated videos, and state-controlled TV stations broadcast films with nude scenes uncut. Yet, while Russians pride themselves on their sophistication about sex, public discussion about it is considered "uncultured" -- a Soviet-era concept deeply rooted in Russian society, equivalent to committing a mortal sin for many non-religious Russians. Sex education is rare, banished from most public schools after a short-lived 1996 experiment drew criticism from the Russian Orthodox Church.

Autumn M. Lerner, a graduate student in international studies at the University of Washington, recalled discussing sex with students in a Moscow nightclub a few years ago. She was shocked that what little they knew was wrong. "Russian kids were denying there was AIDS in Russia," she said. "They denied that safe sex was important." Lerner's master thesis on sex education concluded many Russians are growing up sexually active and sexually ignorant. "There's no tradition with which to talk about these issues," Lerner said. "Parents refuse to talk to children about it. Teachers don't talk about it."

To Lerner and other sex education advocates, the consequences are predictable. According to UNESCO, the rate of syphilis among teenagers exploded in the 1990s. While abortion rates have fallen drastically since Soviet times, two out of three pregnancies still end in the procedure. The UN recently reported that AIDS is spreading faster in Russia than anywhere else worldwide.

"The kids in Russia are not afraid of sexuality," said Igor Kon, a sex education advocate and author. "But government officials? Their parents? They believe it is very bad, it's dangerous." As Anastasia Vasiliyeva sat with her 17-year-old boyfriend, Sergei Koslovsky, on a bench on Tsvetnoi Boulevard, Koslovsky recalled how a friend who tried to buy a sex manual was humiliated by bookstore clerks. Society can't afford to be so squeamish when its health is at stake, Koslovsky said.

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