Trigger warning: The following article contains content about abortion, rape and self-harm
Abandoned, crippled and defaced beyond recognition. Just a month ago, a foetus with its umbilical cord still attached was discovered by a worker at a sewage treatment plant in Tanjung Malim. According to the Perak police chief, it was assumed that the foetus was dumped into a toilet bowl and had entered through the sewage channel linked to both residential and industrial areas. Horrific as it seems, an incident like this is merely the tip of the iceberg of Malaysia’s long history of newborns being dumped in rubbish sites, sewage plants and even graveyards.
A nationwide Global School-based Student Health Survey carried out by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in 2012 indicated that 50.4% of students had sexual intercourse for the first time before the age of 14. Amongst them, only 32.2% used condoms. Leaving many to wonder, despite increasing numbers of early sexual encounters amongst teens, many are unaware of reproductive health knowledge and the repercussions of unprotected sex.
A Quick Introspection
Despite the pervasiveness of sex as part of human reproduction, most Malaysians grow up in an environment where sex is uttered in hushed tones. As a child, have you ever wondered why this was the case? There are mainly two contributing factors; religion and culture. With the widespread influence of religion, most of us have preached sexual abstinence till marriage. Islam, among other religions, teaches that pre-marital sex is usually frowned upon and immorally deemed as “haram” (sin). Punishments under Sharia Law can range from fines to whippings. Sociocultural norms also manifest in the form of victim-blaming and condemnation of those who have engaged in pre-marital sex or bore a child out of wedlock.
The Consequences of a Stigmatised Society against Sex
Because of this stigmatisation, teenagers find difficulty in bridging the topic of sex to parents and teachers as it is deemed shameful to ask about their sexuality. Many adults fail to realise that when sex is cloaked under a veil of secrecy, it piques curiosity among teenagers. When safe spaces cease to exist for sex education, they turn to dubious sources such as their peers, the dark web and pornography to be informed.
Unsurprisingly, the Perspective’s Malaysian Youth & Reproductive Health Survey in 2015 revealed that 35% of female youths believe they can’t get pregnant the first time they have sex. Meanwhile, adolescents who do wish to avoid pregnancy face barriers in accessing contraception due to the restrictive provision of contraceptives based on age or marital status. In dire cases, when young girls are impregnated, they resort to dangerous and unregulated methods of abortion such as self-induced abortion, consumption of toxic fluids and direct injury to the vagina.
Dissecting Actions taken by the Government and its Glaring Inefficacies
In response to the public outcry in 2011, the government integrated Reproductive and Social Health Education/Pendidikan Kesihatan Reproduktif dan Sosial (PEERS) into subjects like science, physical education, religious and moral education from Year 1 to Form 5.
A snippet of PEERS from the Form 4 Pendidikan Jasmani dan Kesihatan (PJPK) textbook
Source: Buku Teks Pendidikan Kesihatan dan Jasmani Tingkatan 4
The innate problems with PEERS lie two-fold; firstly, the content is mainly zeroed on abstinence-only education, discouraging sex by instiling fear amongst students about societal stigmatisation.
A page from a Health Education textbook teaching girls to ‘protect the modesty of their genitals’ was recently revised by the Ministry of Education following a mass societal backlash against its perceived encouragement of victim-blaming
Source: South China Morning Post
Telling girls as young as the age of 9 that sex is a shameful act is problematic, as it perpetuates the culture of victim-blaming at a young and impressionable age while shifting accountability away from perpetrators. The lack of victim solidarity in society is mentally debilitating for a victim as it deters them from seeking support structures, and instead pushes them to inflict self-harm and attempt dangerous abortion procedures to escape societal ostracisation.
Secondly, teachers are often ill-equipped to teach sex education as they lack training and resources to educate youths and they fear being misquoted resulting in complaints from parents. Even if teachers are well-equipped, they often shy away from the uncomfortable notion of discussing sex openly due to personal beliefs and ingrained childhood norms dissuading them from doing so.
Evidently, abstinence fails to curb unwanted pregnancies as we deprive students of imperative knowledge of safe and consensual sex. It further compounds the harms of societal condemnation towards victims who had the misfortune of suffering an abortion.
Is Malaysia ready for Comprehensive Sexual Education?
Social ills such as baby dumping and sexually transmitted diseases are undeniably traced back to the quality of sex education in schools. The solution we need is simple: Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE); a gender-centred and rights-based approach to sex education.
Besides covering a plethora of information on reproductive anatomy, it encompasses the importance of contraceptives and awareness of STDs including HIV and AIDS. CSE also uniquely incorporates overlooked aspects such as consent, gender equality, body positivity, forms of abusive relationships and communication skills.
Visualisation of key components of CSE outlined by UNESCO
Source: UNESCO
However, doesn’t CSE encourage students to have sex? Quite the contrary! At its core, CSE transcends cultural and religious boundaries by providing youths with scientifically accurate knowledge of reproductive anatomy coupled with teachings on life skills and consent. The Netherlands and Denmark are prime examples of how successfully executed CSE systems have decreased birth rates among adolescents.
A study conducted in 2016 depicts countries that utilise the CSE syllabus such as Denmark, Sweden and Norway have one of the lowest adolescent birth rates in the world
Source: Institute of Health Metrics & Evaluation (IHME)
Calls for Major Educational Reform
Leading NGOs in areas of Sexual and Reproductive Health such as the Federation of Reproductive Health Associations, Malaysia (FRHAM), Women’s Action Society (AWAM) and Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) should be involved in developing and adapting CSE curricula to suit cultural sensitivities and age-appropriate guidelines. The active involvement of youths, parents and community stakeholders is also crucial to ensure sex education is needs-oriented and foregrounds the contemporary struggles young people face, rather than following an agenda determined by educators.
Additionally, the Malaysian government must implement a robust monitoring mechanism for teachers’ training to discuss sex in a safe and non-judgemental space. In doing so, teachers should be readied with reliable resources to ensure the syllabus is standardised across all schools.
Lastly, CSE should include information on accessing youth-friendly health services including counselling on sexuality and relationships, menstrual health management, modern contraception and pregnancy testing.
Failure to equip youths with such knowledge may lead them to make inconceivable decisions: whether to raise a baby and bear the stigma of being an unwed mother in an Asian society or to bear the consequences of aborting her child. The comparison is clear: do we equip youths with comprehensive knowledge to make informed decisions about their sex lives or leave them to their own devices to fend for themselves?
SOURCES
2018. International technical guidance on sexuality education. 2nd ed. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), pp.33-58.
2018. Comprehensive Sexuality Education for Malaysian Adolescents: How Far Have We Come?. Federation of Reproductive Health Associations, Malaysia (FRHAM), pp.91-106.
Kaler, S., 2018. Malaysia needs sex education – R.AGE. [online] R.AGE. Available at: https://www.rage.com.my/sexeducation/ [Accessed 14 April 2022].
Lee, P. and Khor, S., 2021. LETTER | Empower teachers to teach sexuality education. [online] Malaysiakini. Available at: https://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/572815 [Accessed 12 April 2022].
Leong, J., 2021. Sex education: myths and barriers. [online] Free Malaysia Today. Available at:https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2021/09/23/sexuality-education-myths-and-barriers/ [Accessed 14 April 2022].
Nortajuddin, A., 2020. Southeast Asia’s baby dumping problem. [online] The ASEAN Post. Available at: https://theaseanpost.com/article/southeast-asias-baby-dumping-problem [Accessed 12 April 2022].
Burns, J., 2017. Research Confirms That Abstinence-Only Education Hurts Kids. [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/janetwburns/2017/08/23/research-confirms-the-obvious-that-abstinence-only-education-hurts-kids/?sh=716275e16615 [Accessed 14 April 2022].
Bell, T., 2017. Sex Ed in Europe Is Exactly the Opposite of What You Got in America. [online] ATTN: Available at: https://archive.attn.com/stories/7020/sex-education-europe-compared-to-united-states#:~:text=The%20Netherlands%20and%20Denmark%20are,young%20as%204%20about%20sex.[Accessed 14 April 2022].
Liyana Rafidz
Born in Malaysia and partly raised in Thailand, Liyana is a hardworking yet chirpy 16-year-old debater who is excited to be part of the GenZ changemaker movement. Her interests mainly lie in the fight for racial equality, women’s rights and intersectional climate change. With unwavering dedication and initiative to the cause, she aspires to help raise awareness and mobilise activism among youths through her writing at Zenerations Malaysia. When she isn’t writing or burying herself in books, you can regularly find her in Discord debating hours on end, fangirling over K-pop or bingeing Anime. It depends on her mood.
Article edited by Zhi Lyn, Graphics by Nur Yasmin Anith and Art by Tian Jing
Zenerations Malaysia 