Child molestation scandals prompt efforts to protect children(2)

Some parents have said that they will consider buying defensive sprays or alarm devices for their children to prevent sexual abuse.

In Guangdong, some 2,500 girls, half of them under the age of 14, have been sexually victimized over the last three years, according to a media report that cited women's federation officials in the provincial capital of Guangzhou.

A municipal women's federation official said 10,000 instructional pamphlets that detail how to avoid sexual abuse will be distributed to students and parents in June.

Among the recently publicized molestation cases, one involved a school principal and a local government employee who allegedly spent a night with six primary school girls on May 8 in south China's Hainan Province. The men have been detained and are facing rape charges.

In rural areas of China, children receive little education about sex, as the topic is still relatively taboo to most people.

If molestation does occur, victims and their parents often choose to keep silent in order to save face and avoid potential backlash from the offenders. However, the physical and psychological trauma can linger for a long time.

A lack of effective teacher monitoring and inspection has also been cited as a problem.

"Ethics are most important for educators. A teacher with an unsound personality and mind is a time bomb," said Sang Qingsong, an education researcher at Anhui Normal University.

Education departments should do more to vet their teachers and ensure they have strong ethics, Sang said.

In mid-May, Vice Minister of Education Liu Limin urged local authorities to be strict about school safety and tighten oversight of kindergarten, primary and middle school teachers.

Unqualified teachers should be transferred to other posts and those who break the law or are otherwise unethical must be weeded out, Liu said.