KUCHING – Shocked by the revelation that adolescent pregnancies topped 2,099 in the state last year, Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) president Lina Soo has called on the government to improve the delivery of sexual and reproductive health education in schools to protect children.
It is even more alarming that state Welfare, Community Well-being, Family and Children Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah has revealed that such pregnancies in Sarawak involved girls as young as 10.
“A 10-year-old girl is still in her childhood, and she is bringing another child into this world. This is very, very unfortunate.”
It was reported that 41 baby-dumping cases were registered from 2014 to 2020.
Soo said the high numbers reflect the education system’s failure to equip children with essential knowledge on sexual and reproductive health to protect themselves.
“As girls today enter puberty earlier and earlier, sex education must be given at an early stage.
“It is not the solution to think that sex is not a topic to be discussed with children, and to think that we can protect them by not discussing it.”
She urged the government – specifically the Health Ministry; Women, Family and Community Development Ministry; National Population and Family Development Board; and, Education Ministry – to review the country’s sexual and reproductive health policies, and work in tandem to strengthen primary, secondary and tertiary prevention strategies.
The World Health Organisation, reproductive health organisations and research groups that advocate comprehensive sex education (CSE) teach both abstinence and contraception, as such knowledge has been known to delay the age of sexual initiation, she said.
She said CSE does not undermine values and morals, but provides youth-friendly and non-judgmental healthcare services, where young people have a safe space in which they feel comfortable seeking comprehensive information on their sexual and reproductive health.
She said the International Technical Guidance on Comprehensive Sexuality Education produced by the United Nations Population Fund states that depending on the cultures and values held by communities, CSE should involve values central to the relevant religions and cultures – especially important in Malaysia, given its multicultural and pluralistic society.
The heaviest burden of this lack of knowledge falls on young girls because they are the ones who get pregnant, and are often left alone to deal with the consequences, she said.
In efforts to prevent unwanted pregnancies, said Soo, it is also important to involve young men and educate them on the importance of making responsible decisions.
She questioned whether 96% of adolescent pregnancies are indeed school dropouts, as announced by the minister, asking whether “it is known” that these adolescents leave the school system due to their pregnancy, or if the pregnancy happens after they drop out.
“If it is the former, every help must be given to the unwed adolescent to return to school to complete her education after the birth of the baby, so as to get her life back.
“As a society, we must open our hearts and empathise with young people experiencing unintended pregnancies, because it is partly the result of our failure to protect them.” – The Vibes, January 30, 2021
