Youth Helpline Volunteer receives award from his company - Download

MAVA’s Yuva Maitri Helpline for youths across Mumbai

MAVA, since its inception, has been exploring various media to reach out to young men and by translating it’s innovative ideas into effective programs, it has always pioneered these efforts in India. One such latest initiative is a Youth Telephonic Helpline on Gender and Sexuality Matters.

Motivation and background
Teenage is a stage in life predominated by a variety of changes -- physical, emotional, conceptual and attitudinal. This gullible phase not only brings with it myriad confusions but also a roller-coaster ride of emotions. It is precisely this time when teenagers and young-adults need help, support and guidance over a variety of issues. They often do not find a confidant with whom they can openly communicate and discuss these issues. The case is even worse with issues related to sexuality (including HIV /AIDS), which continue to be a taboo subject in our society.

And in all of MAVA’s programs with college youths for past 3 years in Projects like ‘Yuva Maitri, Pune’ and ‘Yuva Samvad, Mumbai’, the dire need among youths for a sensitive, patient  and non-judgemental listener has been strongly felt.Hence, through its ‘Yuva Maitri Helpline’, MAVA attempts to address vital felt needs of youths and provide a safe, open and sensitive space, where they can open up and comfortably talk about issues that they otherwise cannot talk to anybody else.

The helpline (Number 022 - 26826062), named as  ‘Yuva Maitri’ Helpline was inaugurated bynoted actress Sonali Kulkarni at a function held inSeptember 2009. The helpline answers phone-calls between 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. all days (including holidays) from teenagers, young men and women on anxieties, dilemmas and confusions faced on matters of Relationships, Violence and Sexuality. The helpline, run from MAVA’s Counseling Centre in the suburbs and co-ordinated by a trained social work professional, aims at reaching out to many distressed youths across Mumbai and provide them psycho-social support in an atmosphere of confidentiality and anonymity. Phone-calls at the helpline are answered by a dedicated team of voluntary, trained Communicators, who also meticulously document the calls. From September 2009 to February 2010, over 400 phone-calls by the youths have been answered at the helpline. Wherever necessary,referrals and face-to-face counseling is also arranged by the helpline.

The helpline is currently being manned by around 8 -10 young volunteers mostly within the age-group of 21 – 30 years and hailing from diverse professions. Selected volunteers are periodically being trained by MAVA’s team and experts like psychiatrists on answering phone-calls and documenting them with a sense of professionalism. None of the caller’s personal details (name, address etc.) except for his/her age (only if required) is asked. The aim of the helpline is not to solve the callers’ problems but to help the caller prioritize, deal with them and make life-situations more manageable. Besides providing factual information on sexuality matters, the helpline would also intend to make the person realize that making the most out of life is completely in his/her hands, thereby helping him/her to gain control over his life. The primary focus of the helpline is to cater to queries, anxieties, dilemmas and problems arising out of man-woman relationships and sexuality e.g. Rejection in love, Myths and Misconceptions on issues like Masturbation, Menstruation and HIV/AIDS, Dealing with emotions like Anger, Stress and Loneliness, Coping with failures at workplace or in studies, Dealing with addictions like smoking, alcohol, sexual abuse through internet-surfing and mobile phones.

Outcomes of the Helpline
The helpline, since it’s launch, has been getting a very encouraging response. Over 400 calls from young men and women (15 - 35 years’ age-group) across Mumbai (and a few outside Mumbai) have been answered till February 2010. Out of the total calls handled, a huge chunk of calls - 65% were for General Information- Seeking : Information about the helpline, about other helping organizations,  organizations working with women, HIV testing centers,  avenues where callers could seek legal help or about specific experts like Gynecologists, Career Counselors, Urologists, Sexologists etc.  Another major lot -- 28% was pertaining to queries about Sexuality in particular. The questions asked range from Masturbation Myths (both male & female), Pre-mature Ejaculation, Penis - size anxiety, dilemmas about sexual orientation (Am I heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual), Pre-Marital Guidance, side-effects of Emergency Contraception etc. The many confusions and dilemmas expressed by callers on sexuality matters repeatedly underline the pressing need for the provision of sexuality education in schools and colleges. (In MAVA’s initiatives with young men in Mumbai and 3 other districts of Maharashtra, many adolescents have shared that blue films were the primary source of information on sexuality)   The rest of the calls were 2% each regarding Marriage-apprehension, Emotional-Venting, Job-Stress and doubts about Pregnancy respectively. The remaining 2% calls were on dealing with Individual Loneliness, pressures of being a man performing as bread-winner. While 81% of the calls were made from mobile phones, 19 % calls were made from landline phones. The call durations range right from 2 minutes to a whopping 1 hour 14 minutes.

31% of the calls were made by callers in the age group of 20-24 years, whereas 27% calls were made by callers ageing 25-29 years. While calls from callers in the age group 15-19 years make up for 20% of the total calls received, 22% calls are from people who are 30 years of age or above.