Walking Delicately Around Mental Handicap, Sex Education and Abuse in Pakistan
✍ Scribed by M. Miles
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1996
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 764 KB
- Volume
- 5
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0952-9136
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Public discussion of child abuse, sexuai abuse and the sexuality of mentally handicapped* people is unwelcome in Pakistan, as in some other Asian and Muslim nations. Formal sex education is not given in schools. Sparse documentation exists in historical sources and the literature of anthropology, law, paediatrics, psychology and psychiatry. Some of this is reviewed, bearing in mind that cultural constructions of abuse vary significantly between Pakistan and western countries. Positive resources exist in the ordinary family life of Pakistan. Some families with mentally handicapped children appreciate teachers' efforts to explain bodily changes, personal hygiene and appropriate social behaviour, under the title 'modesty education' The accumulation of reliable and culturally sensitive information from a broad range of sources, and its wider dissemination, are important factors in supporting progress. Issues of knowledge and focus are discussed.