A Supreme Court lawyer recently sent a legal notice to relevant government authorities, asking them to take action against physicians Tasnim Jara and Jahangir Kabir, as well as others who are allegedly involved in spreading "obscenity" on internet platforms.

Tasnim Jara's inclusion in this notice is particularly interesting, because besides being a senior joint member-secretary of the National Citizen Party, she is a co-founder of a health-tech startup called Shohay. Tasnim had made a name for herself during the Covid-19 pandemic with health awareness videos on social media. Shohay now strives to disseminate reliable health information in Bangla.

But the notice accused her of "promoting pornography" through her sex education content, which, in actuality, addresses real concerns: consent, bodily autonomy, safety, and empowerment.

This is not just absurd. It is telling. It confirms that the very conversations we are being punished for having are the ones this society desperately needs.

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‘Provide a clear explanation’

Sex education is not vulgarity. It is survival. And when a society shuns it, when we refuse to teach it, the consequences are not abstract either. They become painfully real, playing out every day in our homes, our schools, our courtrooms, and our newsfeeds.

Without sex education, silence becomes the norm. Children do not have the words to explain what is happening to them when they are abused. Teenagers grow up ashamed of their bodies, confused about boundaries, and scared to ask questions. And that silence? It becomes the perfect breeding ground for predators. When we do not educate, we do not protect either. When consent is not taught, it is not understood.

A culture forms where people believe that "no" just means "try harder". It is a culture where boys grow up thinking dominance is appealing, and girls are conditioned to endure instead of resist. This misunderstanding is not just harmful but also violent. This is why sexual violence is so widespread and yet so poorly prosecuted. This is why survivors are interrogated more harshly than their attackers. This is why rapists get excuses, and victims get blamed.

In the absence of real, age-appropriate education, pornography often becomes a substitute, most of which is violent, dehumanising, and entirely unrealistic. In the absence of education, pornography steps in as the teacher and it teaches all the wrong lessons.

Even children are not spared because it is not about desire. It is more about domination and power. It involves people who have never been taught empathy, self-control, or even basic moral boundaries. This is a direct symptom of a society where even the word "sex" is taboo, but power is everything.

Without sex education, trauma goes unchecked. Survivors carry their pain into adulthood, unable to process or heal. Some go on to hurt others, while others continue to be hurt. And so, the cycle continues — generation after generation — because no one was given the tools to break it.

This is not about promoting obscenity. It is about ending the real obscenities like abuse, violence, ignorance, and silence. The people resorting to censor those who speak up are terrified of change.

Sex education is not the threat. The silence surrounding it is.