Shh! Let's talk about sex early

Student Qin Xue remembers being just nine years old when she first saw a couple having sex on a television show, but it was not until four years later that she had her first sex education class in school.

"My parents have spoken to me about sex and how to protect myself from sexual predators, but most of my understanding of it comes from the Internet and TV," the 14-year-old student admits.

This scenario is one that plays out across China, where discussions about sex - a topic often seen as shameful in conservative Chinese society - are conducted in hushed tones, or a little too late.

But the rise in the number of sexual assaults on minors being reported has drawn attention to the dearth of frank discussions about sex in the country.

Sexual assaults made up more than a quarter of the 346 criminal cases, including physical abuse, targeting minors in Beijing last year, according to a report by the Beijing High People's Court. More than 80 per cent of these sexual assault victims were under 14.

A separate government report noted there were 125 cases of sexual abuse against minors last year - a record number for China.

In May last year, for instance, in a headline-grabbing incident that opened the floodgates for other allegations to follow, a primary school principal in southern Hainan province was accused of raping six pupils in a hotel.

More recently, in March this year, allegations surfaced that the directors of a prestigious gymnastics academy in central Hunan province, which has churned out six Olympic medallists, repeatedly molested at least six young girls.

Experts say lack of awareness, parental negligence and flawed safety systems - such as the lack of regular patrols in schools and age checks at hotels - are often to blame for sexual assaults on children. Those in rural areas are the most vulnerable.

Despite government guidelines last September recommending an increase in sex education in the wake of the sordid scandals, many schools offer physical health classes instead, because blushing teachers rush through the typically taboo topic of sex.

"There is no comprehensive syllabus or government-led training in sex education, so many teachers do not know how to talk about it," said child protection expert Tong Xiaojun of the China Youth University for Political Sciences.

"They do not have the confidence to teach it and might just talk about personal hygiene instead," she told The Straits Times.

As a result, experts say, most victimised minors do not know how to protect themselves - some are even unaware that they are being sexually abused.

In an interview with state-run Xinhua, Ms Hu Zhen, an academic specialising in the issue, said sex education in Chinese schools lagged "at least 60 years behind" that in other developed states.

In Britain, for instance, the law requires that sexual education begin at age five. In Singapore, within the health education syllabus, pupils from nine to 12 are taught steps to protect themselves from sexual abuse.

But experts say there is increasing support now, even from parents, for children to be better educated about sex in schools. Still, parents and the media must play their part as well.

Professor Zhang Meimei, director of the sex education department at Beijing's Capital Normal University, said China should start sex education at the kindergarten level, as some European states do, rather than at the primary school level, as it does now.

Also, teachers need to be properly trained and given a detailed syllabus so they know exactly what to teach and how to teach it.

"Preventing child sex abuse is a multifaceted exercise," said Prof Zhang. "Increasing awareness through the media, strengthening child abuse laws, improving background checks on teachers - all these work together to address the problem."

Meanwhile, Ms Qin is confident that her generation is no longer squeamish when talking about the birds and the bees.

"China is progressing, and we are a more open society now. It is better to talk about sex earlier, so at least we know how to protect ourselves," she said.

Recent child sex abuse cases in China

The directors of a prestigious gymnastics academy in central Hunan province that has churned out six Olympic medallists were reported in March to have been arrested for repeatedly molesting at least six young girls.

The victims, who are below 10 years old, were allegedly abused by the school's dean Liu Zhiqiang and his deputy Zeng Rong over two years. They have yet to be tried and sentenced.

Guo Yuchi, a former official from Daguan in south-western Yunnan province, was arrested for raping a four-year-old girl in August last year. He was convicted a month later and sentenced to five years in prison.

A 62-year-old primary school teacher Tao Biaogong in east China's south-eastern Jiangxi province was sentenced to 14 years in prison for sex crimes against seven second-grade girls and infecting six of them with sexually transmitted diseases in July last year.

Chen Zaipeng, then the principal of Wanning No. 2 Primary School in southern Hainan province, together with former housing bureau official Feng Xiaoson, took six pupils between 11 and 14 years old to a hotel and sexually abused them in May last year.

Chen was convicted of rape and sentenced to 131/2 years in prison for his crimes. Feng received an 111/2-year sentence.

esthert@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on June 9, 2014.
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