Numerous teenage girls face various forms of sexual harassment at Malaysian schools, including such humiliating practices as checks on their periods by teachers, according to testimonies posted online.
Teachers at many primary and secondary schools force students to reveal whether they were on their period during religious holidays in the predominantly Muslim nation, according to personal accounts by female students.
Menstruating women are considered “unclean” in mainstream Islamic tradition and barred from engaging in communal worship.
In other instances, male teachers told lewd jokes to female students or communicated with them in a sexually suggestive manner.
The revelations of widespread sexual harassment at Malaysia’s schools have followed an account by a teenage girl last month.
Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam, 17, released a video on the social media app TikTok detailing comments of a sexual nature made by a teacher at her school in April.
In 311 recorded incidents, four out of five perpetrators of sexual harassment and bullying were teachers
The unidentified male teacher joked about rape to female students in a class, according to the student.
In a subsequent survey of recent testimonials posted online by teenage girls, the Malaysian women’s rights organization All Women’s Action Society (Awam) has found that hundreds of female students have experienced bullying and harassment of a sexual nature in school, including primary and secondary schools.
In 311 recorded incidents, four out of five perpetrators of sexual harassment and bullying were teachers, followed by wardens and senior students, according to Awam.
“While not all teachers and wardens are perpetrators, the number that are perpetrators will cause long-term negative effects to the school system and the children’s future,” Awan warned in a letter to the government.
When it came to teachers’ checks of female students’ menstrual status, violations included forcing them to strip down and show their sanitary pads to seniors and other figures of authority.
Many school students also reported having been groped.
The women’s rights group has recommended a broad range of actions for implementation in schools with the aim of ensuring a climate in which female students remain safe from any form of sexual harassment and bullying.
“The existing teachers’ code of conduct in teachers’ training colleges should also be improvised to include issues of sexual harassment, abuse and bullying, and it needs to be enforced nationally,” Awam said in a statement.
Schools ought to be a safe haven for their students
The rights group has also recommended providing support for “teachers who are also school counselors so that they can better understand the work ethics of a counselor and provide quality-assured counseling services.”
The revelation of wide-scale sexual harassment has caused outrage in the conservative nation, with numerous experts and rights activists calling for measures to eliminate any form of sexual abuse in schools.
“Schools ought to be a safe haven for their students and must refrain from making comments that can be construed as victim blaming, which suggests that the victim rather than the perpetrator should bear responsibility for mistreatment,” stressed A.G. Kalidas, president of the Malaysian Bar, a body that regulates the profession of lawyers in peninsular Malaysia.
“A zero-tolerance policy towards bullying and harassment in schools, whether by the caregivers or by students, is essential to curb any unlawful interference with the rights of children.”
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