images:/reports/nestor%20report.pdf

NESTs was a space for sharing, venting and counselling for anyone over 18 years of age. The sessions were free of cost, irrespective of the number of sessions a participant took. Sessions were conducted in person or over the telephone/online at the client's convenience. Between August 2019 to November 2022, 816 sessions with 416 clients were conducted. Of the 416 clients, 244 (59%) were men, 163 (39%) were women, and 9 (2%) were transgender. Clients from various backgrounds approached NESTs with a myriad of concerns. After the sessions, the NESTOR (a counsellor), in summary, mentioned the primary concerns for which the client approached NESTs.

The report provides detailed descriptions of these concerns and some illustrative de-identified cases. Gender-wise analysis of each of the concerns suggests that almost equal numbers of men and women have approached NESTs, except more men seeking information and women coming to get support for coping with abuse.

Many of these concerns go beyond the typical biomedical understanding of sexual health, often restricted to the sexual act, performance and sexually transmitted diseases. The affirmative and rights-based approach of counselling and positioning it as a non-medical service could be one of the reasons for getting people with diverse concerns, including those coming to vent out their feelings and emotions. Therefore, counselling provided in the NESTs for Youth program can be best described as sexual well-being counselling, not just sexual health counselling.

 

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