Eight to nine year old children in Beijing classrooms are receiving basic sex education by volunteers from the Girls’ Protection project.
Girls’ Protection Project is a non-governmental organization founded in 2013 with the mission of protecting young girls from sexual abuse. They fund workshops, lectures, educational campaigns, and research to prevent sexual abuse against children.
After having polled over 4,700 students last year, Girls’ Protection discovered that 40 percent of students could not identify their own private parts. Over 363 parents were interviewed, of which 40 percent stated that they never spoke to their children about sexual abuse. In fact, many parents avoid the topic of sex education completely.
Over the past year, Girls’ Protection has given lectures to over 2,000 students in at least four different schools in Hunan. In the Beijing workshop, the students are first asked to identify their private parts. Many do not know the answer.
Although the non-profit organization is called “Girls’ Protection,” they emphasize that they campaign for all children, including boys. As is necessary, given that in China boys have less legal protection than girls. Assaulters of boys receive lighter punishments than if they had assaulted girls.
Once children have an idea of what “private parts” are, they are taught how to establish and defend their personal boundaries. Students are encouraged to say “no” and defy what adults have asked of them.
Watch the video of what students learned at Sixth Sense.
Photo: Creative Commons
