While it is laudable that the Indian government has made the effort to initiate a holistic reproductive health programme, its failure to address issues of sexuality that arise in this context is puzzling.

While sexuality and issues relating to it have come up periodically in the past, it is only now, with the growing feminist concern with the rights of women to their lives and bodies, that sexuality has gained a more enduring prominence.

Violence and sexuality share a circular relationship: violence not only sets the parameters of individuals sexuality, it also affects their sexual persona and makes sexuality a space of fear and shame.

While talking about law and homosexuality, I am reminded of a story of a washerman and his donkey. The donkey refused to move with the heavy bundle of clothes on his back from his house to the pond. The washerman nailed a carrot to a stick, which was tied in front of the animal's mouth.

Most of us acquire knowledge regarding sex and sexuality, through various formal and informal avenues. Much of the information acquired through infornal sources is unlikely to be accurate or correct. Sex being a topic, which is not openly discussed is shrouded in secrecy.

Recent activities of the international women's health movement have generated considerable interest in women's sexuality and gender research.

It is taking discrimination against women to the womb. It is denying women the right to equality and the right to life on the grounds of gender. It is like telling them that they are not wanted. The issue of female foeticide simply does not shock or disturb anyone any longer.