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MOE to Look into Sexual Bullying in Schools Urged— Child and Women Rights Assurance Must Be in Place

Joint Statement Released by Dong Zong and Jiao Zong

August 5, 2021

MOE to Look into Sexual Bullying in Schools Urged—

Child and Women Rights Assurance Must Be in Place

 

Dong Jiao Zong herein urges the MOE to promptly disclose the investigation progress of the recent sexual bullying case happened in school and advises the teacher concerned to confront the investigation calmly by dropping the slander lawsuit against his female student, the whistle blower Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam. In actual fact, Malaysia as a contracting nation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, needs to review its extant enactments and should not be indifferent towards the rights of children and women in bid to bridge the world by observing international conventions.

Herewith, we urge the teacher concerned to exhibit ethical discipline and professionalism by dropping his charge against Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam for her ‘defamatory’ video clip. We believe, the teacher should instead reflect on his inappropriate utterances and apologises for the harm caused to the student. Concurrently, the MOE is urged to look into the case seriously by formulating remedied plan and mechanism as Ain’s case is merely the tip of the iceberg. By the same token, it is also to promote gender equality awareness thus creating a safe and healthy learning environment for students; rather, to prevent them from becoming the next victim in destructive gender bias culture.

Immediately after the exposure of the ‘Ain incident’, though Radzi Jidin, the Education Minister, promised to look into the case on 28 April, no disclosure of investigation reports was seen after several days or, more precisely, any measures forwarded on the improvement of gender equality to deter sexual bullying in schools. However, the All Women’s Action Society (AWAM) had unexpectedly managed to collect 275 allegations of sexual bullying in schools within ten days after the incident. The data reveal the worrying state of school harassment and rife sexual bullying in Malaysian schools. Weighing on this, we believe the MOE should look into it seriously by forming an independent investigation unit on sexual bullying in schools for the prevention of child sexual abuse.

In this era viewing child rights as a common understanding, besides professional competent, a teacher should adhere to human rights guidelines. Rather, all educators should be informed on the basic spirit and principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. We suggest the MOE should refer to the gender equality observation report for 2021 submitted by Asia-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (ARROW) which concludes the want of improvement in gender education in Malaysian schools. Their proposals additionally include the building of gender equality awareness for teachers, the learning of human rights and gender equality for school authority and the imminent review of existing counselling system and quality in schools.

In our opinion, only a government which truly feels for child and woman victims and bravely shoulders the obligation can then be mandated on the safeguard of children and women safety. Since Malaysia is a contracting nation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, it bears the obligation and responsibility to assure and uphold gender equality as well as basic child rights and respect. As such, incident like Ain and others should not have happened in the first place. We understand that all the sexual bullying cases in schools compromise the healthy development of children and the status of women stated in the said conventions. Further, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child likewise assures the freedom of speech for many a student. Therefore, the disciplinary prosecution resorted to by the school against the child speaking for her rights obviously gives rise to incorrectness.