Sexuality Education in Schools as First Line of Defence Against Sexual Violence

Mr Speaker, almost every young woman I have spoken to have been a victim of sexual assault or violence at some point in their lives. Personally, I have experienced men rubbing themselves on me in public trains. Even today, as a Member of Parliament, I regularly get sent inappropriate comments, messages and even lewd photographs.

From 2017 to 2019, there were 7,483 victims of sexual assault. To break it down, that is an average of six a day. Half of these victims were 20 years old or younger.

These numbers should scare us as we know that the vast majority of sexual assault cases go unreported and that the trauma of sexual assault can last a person for a lifetime. Sexual assault and the sexism that enables it is an epidemic that hurts women and children more than any others.

We need to stamp it out in our public spaces, our workplaces, our schools and our homes. So, what should we do? We need to start at the basics with education.

While the Government has introduced stiffer penalties for sexual offenders, criminal deterrence is not a silver bullet for this issue. We must get to the root of the problem by building a strong culture of consent in our society. Without a strong consent culture, the criminal justice system alone cannot protect us – women, men and children – from sexual harassment and violence.

We know that victims often do not report sexual crimes committed against them because they are afraid they will not be believed, do not wish to re-live the trauma or because they simply do not have enough evidence. Recently, an AWARE Ipsos survey conducted in November last year found that only three in 10 survivors of workplace sexual harassment made official reports about their experiences.

Today, I will focus on the importance of reviewing our sexuality education curriculum. But before I continue with that, I would also like to point out that consent education is equally important for the rest of us – for victims to know that what has happened to them is wrong and that they deserve justice, for bystanders to identify and intervene in risky situations, and for would-be offenders to understand that what they have done is wrong.

Looking at the state of sexuality education in Singapore, we need to ask two very important questions: who gets access to sexuality education and how sexuality education is taught?

Official statistics from 2017 to 2019 showed that 37% of sexual assault victims were underage. This number is likely to be much higher in reality as many boys and girls may not be aware that they are even victims of sexual assault, much less what they can do about it.

Nearly nine out of 10 sexual assault cases involving minors are committed by someone they trust. And of the tiny fraction of kids who do bravely come forward and seek help, approximately 90% of them are dismissed. Perpetrators are, at times, people they trust and incidents of sexual assault are often dismissed as accidents or even displays of affection.

Who then can children turn to when they face these horrors?

Moreover, we know that early childhood sexual abuse makes people far more likely to be sexually victimised again and many survivors struggle with depression, anxiety and forming healthy, loving relationships later in life.

For these reasons, mandatory sexuality education should be extended to young children, one of our most vulnerable groups.

While our frontline care-givers must be more proactive in weeding out potential abuse, our children must be taught to recognise the wrongs being done to them. There are four things that we need to teach our children and these include: (a) body safety; (b) when a touch is good or bad; (c) what secrets should be shared with a trusted adult; and (d) how they can get help.

Some might feel uncomfortable when introducing the concept of sex to pre-schoolers. As a mother of young children, I share their concerns about making sure that our children are not exposed to sexualised content.

But sexuality education is not just about sex. It is about teaching the concepts of normal relationships, boundaries and respect for one another's feelings and bodies. These concepts can be taught in age-appropriate ways. In fact, the Singapore Children's Society does this with their KidzLive booklet, which teaches children sexuality education with a focus on safety, facts and common sense.

In Singapore, mandatory sexuality education only starts at Primary 5 with the Growing Years Programme. Whether nationally mandated sexuality education is introduced before then is unclear.

In contrast, New Zealand's personal safety programmes start sexuality education for children across the nation at age five. International best practices such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) technical guidance recommends the same.

It is clear that hundreds of minors are hurt by sexual abuse each year. The trauma of sexual violence finds many young victims far too early. If we wait too long to teach our young children about consent, respect and what to do if they ever face sexual assault, we are failing them as the adults they trust. Let us start to do right by our children by creating a standardised sexuality education curriculum for all pre-school operators.

Now, let us consider what we teach our youths and what is missing in our existing sexuality education curriculum.

First, our sexuality education needs to focus on consent. Consent is key in responsible sexual behaviour. An Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) and Ngee Ann Polytechnic survey conducted last year showed that more than half of students surveyed said that they were not taught consent in schools even though all wanted to be taught.

It is not enough to simply teach that sex without consent is wrong. Consent is complex and our students must know why it is important and how to navigate it respectfully.

When surveyed, our youths expressed trouble identifying consent in situations involving alcohol abuse and conditional consent. Rape myths like how women who drink deserve it or silence means consent worsen this problem. Effective sexuality education must tackle these problems head on.

Neither the current Growing Years' sexuality education curriculum nor the eTeens programme get to the root of the problem. Our students need to be taught why consent is key and how people cannot fully give consent in certain scenarios. It is commendable that some tertiary institutions now teach consent explicitly but this must start earlier on in life.

Teaching consent also means teaching the differences in power and the abuse of trust and authority. Studies show strong evidence that when sexuality emphasises critical thinking about power and gender, it results in far better outcomes such as reducing unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates.

With the Internet and social media, sexual violence is amplified. If we do not educate our young early in school, where their knowledge of sex comes from a trusted and vetted resource, they will learn their lessons from the Internet, where pornography and other irresponsible or unrealistic depictions of sex are easily accessible.

This puts them at risk of developing unhealthy relationships to sex. This may lead them to disregard consent and engage in unacceptable behaviours such as catcalling, harassment at work and even filming other students in toilets. These harms, which are so casually inflicted and systemic, must stop. Tech-enabled offences such as cyberbullying, sharing personal information, taking and distributing obscene photographs, and even voting in polls that sexualise women are wrong and deeply harmful.

Social media and the Internet have made platforms like the Nasi Lemak Telegram chat, the recent poll on our asatizahs and forums with obscene material much more accessible today. Our current sexuality education curriculum talks about the moral and legal consequences of risky sexual behaviours in a single class in Secondary 1. This is hardly enough. We need to teach our youths that their actions have far larger repercussions than just legal. We could do this by emphasising real-world conditions that encourage empathy and situational awareness.

They need to learn, to understand the suffering caused to victims and also to speak out and seek help when a peer or an adult perpetuates these harms.

Secondly, our sexuality education needs to be more sustained and openly taught. Today, Singapore is facing a long overdue reckoning with a scale of sexual harm and trauma that happens in this country. Yet, when we break down how much classroom time is spent on sexuality education, we find that students get just 25 hours of class time on it. That is equivalent to a week of school in a total of 12 years of formal education.

Given the lasting harm that sexual crimes cause, we cannot rely on just the law to protect our youths. Our sexuality education needs to equip our youths with the knowledge and tools they need to respect one another, protect themselves and support the people around them, a lifelong journey where schools are key.

In addition to extended classroom time, we can put up posters in schools that reinforce key messages like the importance of consent, one's rights under the law, warnings to would-be perpetrators and reminders that resources and channels for safe and medical help are always there for them.

Students also need dedicated spaces, channels and access to educators who support students through relationships, emotions and even abuse. These spaces should be non-judgemental and confidential so that our children and youth are willing to talk about their struggles.

Although there are not any systemic studies about sexuality education's effectiveness in Singapore, surveys show that some find our current sexuality education programme unrelatable.

Our students want teachers to facilitate questions and conversations about sex in a non-judgemental space. They need regular open discussions in which they can ask questions, explore issues, not simply in a passive environment that only happens once or twice a year. These measures will help us effectively provide sexuality education that is safe, open and consistent for every child.

At this point, one might ask: who should be responsible for reforming sexuality education in Singapore and, in particular, is this the Government's responsibility? Would parents not be the best teachers of sexuality education for their own children?

The reality is that parents are uncomfortable talking about sex, much less teaching important concepts relating to it to their children.

A survey by AWARE last year found that only 50% of parents surveyed were comfortable talking to their children about sexuality education. Of these parents, one in four felt embarrassed or lack the confidence to do so. Thirty-five percent felt poorly equipped to begin the conversation and 26% worried that discussing sex would encourage their children to have it. Children too may feel uncomfortable learning about sex from their own parents or are unable to navigate such topics due to abusive dynamics at home.

Sexuality education is complex and leaving it up to parents to deliver accurate and up-to-date information about STIs, tech-enabled offences and the nuances of consent might be too much to ask. Ensuring a comprehensive sexuality education curriculum, children are receiving the best quality education available.

Teachers are especially important in this endeavour. Educators, especially early childhood educators, need to be more proactive in sensing and addressing sexual abuse and assault. This includes being able to spot when students may have faced sexual assault, ensure their safety, handle report sensitively and confidentially, and support students with empathy.

Teachers must be trained in facilitation, especially in scenario and discussion-based learning, for sexuality education to be effective.

I am glad to know that the Ministry currently requires sexuality education to be taught by specially selected and trained teachers. I hope that we can take it one step further by giving all training teachers at the National Institute of Education greater exposure to sexuality education training. In addition, the teachers' sexuality education training should be frequently updated and refreshed to reflect best practices.

Our schools need clear channels of accountability and reporting. These should be widely publicised so that students know whom to turn to for help. Schools should provide the names and contact information of key personnel and helplines, whether of general safe spaces, professional counselling services or ways to seek legal recourse.

Mr Speaker, when I think about the sexual violence that occurs on the daily in Singapore, I worry for the safety of our children. No child should be subject to sexual abuse and even one is one too many. We can change this, we have the power to do something that protects and equips them for life and ensures that they do not grow up in a toxic, dangerous environment.

The road to combating sexual violence requires a whole-of-Government approach and the close participation and collaboration of multiple agencies, Ministries and even stakeholders outside of the Government. My speech today may have focus on improving sexuality education, but it does not negate our responsibility as citizens to do our part and call out harmful behaviour if we witness it, and to keep an eye on those who may be victims of sexual violence.

Mr Speaker, Sir, we thank the Member for agreeing with us that sexuality education is important.

MOE takes a serious view on sexual violence. The safety of our students is of paramount importance and concern to us. I have answered several Parliamentary Questions on this before which reflects the concerns that Members have, and I appreciate their views.

We are disturbed to read about young children who have been victims of sexual abuse, by both familiar people in their lives and strangers. It is heart-wrenching to see how young people were misled, groomed or threatened into compliance by their perpetrators.

Addressing sexual violence requires a whole-of-society approach and Body Safety Awareness programmes in our pre-schools, and Sexuality Education in our schools and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) are all part of this effort. It is important to educate our young so that they learn how to be protected against sexual violence and also know the punishment should they become perpetrators of sexual violence themselves.

The revised Nurturing Early Learners Framework, which covers children aged four to six, places a strong emphasis on the development of children's social and emotional competencies and include topics such as body safety practices. For example, recognising safe and unsafe body touch.

Sexuality Education is an important part of Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) and that is why we regularly review and refine the way we teach it. Sexuality Education aims to equip students with age-appropriate knowledge and skills to maintain safe and healthy relationships and recognise risks. It is based on values that reflect Singapore's mainstream society so that students can make informed and responsible decisions on sexuality matters. Our sexuality education teachers are specially selected and trained, so that they can facilitate discussions with sensitivity.

From the roll-out of the Sexuality Education curriculum in 2014, to the enhancement of content on safety and protection from abuse in 2016 and the launch of the CCE 2021 curriculum this year, we have been updating our content to ensure that they remain relevant towards sexuality matters. We considered emerging trends, local and international research, input from specialists in relevant fields and our local context, and also, importantly, feedback from our youths on their concerns and how they want to be meaningfully engaged. These may sound new to those of us who did not go through this new curriculum nor experience these new teaching delivery methods, but we recognise that there are new challenges that our youths are facing and we are committed to partner them in their adulting journey.

From as young as Primary 1, students learn about personal safety and protection from abuse. For example, they learn what is a good touch versus a bad touch. Through carefully designed and developmentally appropriate CCE lessons, they are taught to recognise sexual abuse and harassment. They learn skills to protect themselves both in the physical and online space and know the laws that protect them.

In a Primary 5 lesson on sexual abuse, students will walk through different scenarios to figure out if a particular action or situation may be a possible case of sexual abuse. Also, we hope that by sharing with our students about different ways to seek help, it will encourage them to approach a trusted adult when required.

In Secondary schools and at the pre-university level, students engage in conversations on the importance of respecting boundaries of self and others, and through different scenarios, learn to identify risks and stand up to peer pressure. These lessons also give them opportunities to practise negotiating boundaries for themselves and others, and the social-emotional and legal consequences if they overstep these boundaries.

Through authentic examples, students are guided to consider how respect looks like for both boys and girls. Students become more conscious of their own attitudes and regard for members of the opposite gender and learn that their choice of words and actions, whether online or offline, makes a significant difference in creating a safe and respectful community for everyone.

Let me give you an example. In our refreshed upper Secondary lessons, students consider how respectful and healthy relationships look like. Using a scenario of a girl's intimate photos being posted online, with boys making lewd and disrespectful remarks about the girl, students discuss what it would feel like for the girl. Through this lesson, students discuss the harm that can ensue through what may appear as harmless banter and jokes and what it feels like to be objectified in this manner.

Topics and scenarios that are discussed in class include recognising red flags and seeking help for oneself and for friends. Teachers use video re-enactments and screenshots so that students are guided to understand what sexual grooming and sexual abuse are and how they are protected by the law. Teachers also clearly communicate the law to our students for them to understand who and what the law seeks to protect.

We acknowledge that sexuality-related issues are complex and multi-faceted and we know that sexuality education lessons involve highlighting issues that are important and relevant to our young people, and that we need to create a safe space for them to have honest conversations and to hear multiple perspectives from one another. At the end of the day, we hope to empower our students so that they can understand themselves better and make responsible decisions.

Our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) have also stepped up education and engagement efforts in recent years on important topics such as respect and appropriate behaviour. This is achieved through multiple channels, including student briefings during orientation, online modules, face-to-face workshops and awareness-building campaigns. All students are expected to abide by their institutions' Codes of Conduct, which set out the expectations for respect and appropriate behaviour.

The Autonomous Universities (AUs) have also implemented or are in the process of implementing compulsory education modules on respect and appropriate behaviour.

First, students learn about the key elements of respect and appropriate behaviour. For example, in NUS' education module, students learn that consent must be actively communicated and given freely and voluntarily. For those living in hostels, these learning points are reinforced through compulsory face-to-face workshops and peer discussions.

Next, students learn what constitutes sexual misconduct and harassment.

Third, students are informed of the various reporting channels and support networks. They also learn how they can be an active bystander and protect themselves while doing so.

The IHLs constantly seek feedback from their students to review and improve these education efforts, such as through post-module surveys.

Mr Speaker, Sir, protection against sexual violence is not just about what we do in schools and it also goes beyond a whole-of-Government effort. It requires a whole-of-society effort.

As parents, we need to be there for our children, to provide guidance and impart values of respect and responsibility. We know that conversations with our children on sexuality matters is not easy. But, by not doing so, the Internet will fill this vacuum. MOE and our schools are committed to supporting parents to have these important conversations on sexuality.

We also need to work with tech companies and the media so that it is clear that our society takes a "zero-tolerance" stand towards toxic, violent and unhealthy relationships. The laws in Singapore have also been updated to reflect new societal issues and problems such as tech-enabled crimes.

With the concerted effort of parents, schools, community, tech companies and media and a legal regime that deters sexual offences, we can journey alongside our young people and support them in the best possible way.