Sexual assault education campaign mulled

Self-protection against sexual assault education among elementary and high school students should be strengthened in a nationwide campaign against sexual offenses targeting minors, read an interdepartmental guideline released on Tuesday.

The guideline, jointly issued by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Security, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China and the All-China Women's Federation, also called on thorough inspection of teachers' qualifications.

Parents and students must raise their awareness on preventing sexual assaults, said the guideline, without providing further details.

Students must improve their self-protection ability on how to seek help in the case of such offenses, while schools are required to conduct close management on girls' dormitories with frequent patrols on and off campus.

Liu Huilan, headmistress of Anhuibeili Elementary School in Beijing, told the Global Times that the guideline should have been introduced long before.

"Some schools have been doing this for years," she said.

"The guideline is a timely response to recent scandals, after several teachers were detained on suspicion of molesting students," Ran Naiyan, a research fellow with the Beijing Academy of Educational Sciences, told the Global Times.

"However, it fails to detail preventing secondary damage to the victims, which is equally important as self-protection education," Ran said.

Comprehensive sex education should also be carried out, according to Peng Xiaohui, a professor with Central China Normal University, adding that the main cause of such assaults is a lack of such course for students.

"Students are not aware of the consequences, and they have always been told to be obedient," Peng said, adding that only obedience to reasonable and lawful orders is expected.

Peng noted that excessive focus on sexual assaults may affect the students' mental development as they might grow to loathe sex in the future, suggesting sexologists should provide scientific and systematic knowledge.

"Authorities may have felt the pressure from society and this guideline is correct as a whole, but it remains to be seen whether all the schools can carry out the work as required," Peng said.