The South and Southeast Asia Resource Centre on Sexuality is hosted by TARSHI (Talking About Reproductive and Sexual Health Issues), an NGO based in New Delhi, India.

TARSHI was founded in 1996 and is registered under the Societies Registration Act in India.

It is guided by the vision that all people have the right to sexual well-being and to an enjoyable and self-affirming sexuality. It works towards expanding sexual and reproductive choices in people’s lives and its programmes address all people, especially women of all ages, communities, classes and sexual preferences, with a focus on young people and their sexual and reproductive health and rights. TARSHI is one of the few NGOs in India that works on sexuality, without restricting it only to a disease-prevention, violence against women or sexual minorities framework, but rather from an affirmative and rights-based approach.

It addresses issues of sexuality keeping young people and women at the centre of its programmes. TARSHI's work includes providing much-needed and valued sexuality information, counselling and referrals to people of all ages on the TARSHI helpline for more than 11 years; strengthening capacity of practitioners in the field through trainings on the interlinkages between rights and sexuality and reproductive health; sensitizing practitioners as well as the general public to sexual and reproductive rights through publications and public education.

Some of TARSHI’s main programmes, areas of interest and association are described below:-

• Telephone Helpline



People of all ages have a right to information about their sexual and reproductive health concerns and a right to access appropriate services for these needs. The TARSHI helpline provides a much-needed service to callers and the service continues to inform all of TARSHI’s other initiatives.

The TARSHI Helpline provides information, counselling and referrals on a range of sexual and reproductive health issues. The helpline is staffed by trained counsellors and directed by a qualified clinical psychologist. TARSHI has responded to nearly 60,000 calls, from people between the ages of 10 and over 70 years, from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. The helpline service is available in Hindi and English; it is free, confidential and guarantees anonymity.

All calls that are received on the helpline are documented meticulously in order to provide a high quality of service to callers. Documenting calls is of prime importance for continuity in counselling callers and offering good quality helpline service. Documenting calls also provides data for research and analysis on how sexuality is played out in diverse circumstances of peoples’ lives and on the reproductive health concerns of diverse populations. The information feeds and guides the programmes that TARSHI is engaged in. The TARSHI helpline was recognised by the UNAIDS as one of four helplines internationally in the Best Practice Collection.

The TARSHI helpline has also been chosen as one of four sites for the research study on Assessing the conditions and quality of counselling related to sexuality and sexual health in Uganda, Kenya, Brazil and India, being conducted by The Royal Tropical Institute, the Netherlands, in collaboration with the WHO.

• Sexuality Information Dissemination

TARSHI has used a variety of information dissemination strategies to provide accurate information about sexuality. These have ranged from producing and distributing written material in the form of pamphlets, booklets, and books in English and Hindi on sexuality and related issues at public events and bazaars, to professional presentations and writings. TARSHI has especially focussed on producing material that is gender-sensitive, non-heterosexist and affirming respect for all people and their right to sexual well-being.

Based on its helpline experience and sessions in schools with young people in 1999, TARSHI produced books for young people in English and in Hindi (The Red Book and Lal Kitab are for 10 to 14 year olds, and The Blue Book and Neeli Kitab are for those aged 15 years and older), which have been reprinted seven times since. The books are widely used by NGOs and organisations working with young people and have also been used by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India. Both books have been translated into the six Indian languages by different local NGOs. TARSHI has also been approached by agencies in South and Southeast Asia for permission to translate these books into South Asian local languages.

In addition to these books, TARSHI has also produced a number of publications and products for diverse audiences over the years. A complete list of publications can be found on the website www.tarshi.net.

• Public Education and Advocacy Activities

TARSHI has conducted various public education and advocacy activities in partnership with other NGOs to create a broader public understanding about women’s rights, sexuality, gender and violence. TARSHI has held a stall at Dilli Haat as a part of the popular annual fair, Nature Bazaar for nine years since 1997. In addition to disseminating sexuality information through books and pamphlets in English and Hindi, posters, games, and message T-shirts, TARSHI has collaborated with Delhi-based NGOs to host Opinion Polls on issues related to sexuality education for young people, rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, sexuality concerns of people with disabilities etc.

Some of the campaigns that TARSHI has been actively involved in have been the Campaign for Lesbian Rights (1998) and Voices Against 377 (ongoing) in addition to the International Campaign to Stop Violence against Women and Girls.

• The Sexuality and Rights Institute

The Sexuality and Rights Institute is an annual two-week long residential course that focuses on a conceptual study of sexuality. The Institute is organised in collaboration with CREA. It examines the interface between sexuality and rights and its links with the related fields of gender and health. The faculty comprises of national and international resource persons who use a range of pedagogical techniques including lectures, group work, films, reading assignments and exercises. Participants examine sexual and reproductive health programs as well as various legal and socio-cultural issues and incorporate their learning into planning and working on programmes.

• The South and Southeast Asia Resource Centre on Sexuality