On 31 August, a group of five teenagers aged between 16 to 19 years old was detained after they were discovered having sex with a 12-year-old girl. Following the viral post that has been circulating all over social media, the minor consented to the act.
However, according to the Malaysian Penal Code, “sexual intercourse with a girl under 16 years of age, with or without her consent, is also rape.”Ā
If this was a representation of how informed Malaysian youths are about sex, the education system definitely has its work cut out for them. The post was reshared on a Facebook group, Malaysian Education info, where netizens began discussing the importance of sex education to avoid scenarios like this from happening:
“This is one reason why sex education should not be a taboo subject. They will learn wrong things from wrong channels. A 12yo girl? Parents please be open to teaching sex education to children so that these things would not happen,” said the user who shared the post with the group.
Many netizens were shocked and highlighted how things would be different if the girl was properly educated about sex. They also questioned why her parents weren’t there to monitor or educate their child.
However, others chimed in with comments on how it isn’t just the girl who should be educated concerning these matters. The perpetrators themselves should also take responsibility for their actions to avoid more cases like these from popping up in the future.
One netizen said that some parents may misunderstand sex education as teaching kids how to have sex when it really is teaching them how to protect themselves.
While sex is often regarded as a taboo topic in our society, we need to start actively having conversations about it to educate and protect the younger generation. Recently, The Noeo Project started a petition to make sex education compulsory in Malaysia. You can read more about it and sign the petition here.
What do you guys think about this?
Also read: Hereās Why You Should Sign This Petition To Make Sex Education Compulsory In Malaysia
