Taking the Lead in Preventing
Child Sexual Abuse

Mee Yuen is a former journalist with a strong interest in children’s education. She was instrumental in establishing the Sunday Dhamma School at Sungai Long Buddhist Society, Selangor.

By Thang Mee Yuen

The prevalence and gravity of child sexual abuses in recent years warrant concerted efforts to stem and prevent them. Child abuse cuts across racial, ethnic and socio-economic divides. Keeping children safe is the duty of all adults. Teaching them to be wary of strangers and not to accept treats or rides from strangers are no longer sufficient. In most cases, the perpetrators are people known to the victims.

In many instances, preventive education and appropriate counseling have been successful in breaking the patterns of abuse. However, in order to teach prevention techniques effectively, we need to examine our social, cultural and religious attitudes toward sexual roles, family life, sexuality and violence.

Experts believe education is an effective measure to prevent abuse as it breaks through the silence and denial that have long plagued child sexual abuse, and thus decreases the level of public tolerance towards it. Education also increases young people’s access to resources for treatment, counseling and intervention. More importantly, children will be more aware of issues related to sexual violence.

However, this does not mean that children should receive too much explicit information about sexuality. On the contrary, preventive education focuses on the dissemination of factual information about sexual abuse and the development of skills to counter it. It would empower the child to avoid or to resist an approach by a potential perpetrator. Children without information and resources have few defenses against those who seek to harm them.

Preventive education within a religious context will allow children to discuss values, teachings and scriptures relating to the topic. Given our general reticence to discuss sex, it is of vital importance that teachers (and parents) teaching the material have the correct attitude and understanding about sexuality (factual information) and the correct Buddhist perspectives on all matters related to it.

Teachers with the correct information and attitude would be able to impart the right message to children in the appropriate language. Through a well-structured programme, our children will not only learn about personal safety but also about coping skills and core values, such as self-esteem, empathy and respect.