Referring to the recent report concerning the UKM study titled 'High-Risk Female Youth Profile' commissioned by the Selangor state government, I am amused, dismayed and disgusted at the reaction of the Menteri Besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo to the results of the research.
Though unsurprising and amusing in his dismissal of the results (he was quoted in several reports as saying that the findings were lies and the study being rubbish), he is symptomatic of how bad our politicians and policymakers have become.
Despite this research (which the state government itself commissioned) being only one of many different studies over the years which have examined, among others, the issue of premarital sexual intercourse, his reaction indicates that he, like many others, continue to be blissfully unaware and dismissive of the many challenges faced by both young Malaysian women and men growing up in today's society.
Our country's young people continue to be deprived of proper sexual reproductive health information needed to protect themselves as a result of society's and politicians' need to be seen as morally pure. Sex education is often deemed 'inappropriate', 'giving ideas', 'not necessary because we have religion', 'Western' and countless other excuses for which the subject is not properly taught in school.
Not too long ago, a director-general of the Ministry of Education dismissed the need for this subject because he felt that our students didn't have sex and thus it was irrelevant to teach the topic. The price we pay for this neglect is the increasingly vulnerable situations faced by young people of which early sexual activity is only one. Sexual violence, such as gang rape, which seems to be on the increase, is another.
Listening in dismay to our politicians and community leaders speak of the need for chastity belts, enforcement of women's wear covering 'areas of temptation' (eg. hair), of indecent clothing resulting in denial of access to government services, and of why girls are themselves to be blamed for sexual criminal acts such as rape, I am certainly not surprised that politicians have a somewhat simplistic view concerning the perceived deterioration of values in Malaysian society. Somehow, boys and men don't appear very often, if at all, in this view.
Rights and responsibilities in issues such as sex education involve both boys and girls. The fact that a study was commissioned by his state government to only examine the behaviour of girls implies and is indicative of the mentality and mindset that the perceived 'deterioration of moral values' and the problems of society are one-sided affairs with the finger of blame conveniently pointed at the targets of this study. Where are the boys in this picture?
I can assure our Selangor menteri besar that the results and analysis are very much true and is the reality which is faced by countless of school counselors desperate for proper assistance in providing psychological and emotional support to the hundreds of girls and boys considered delinquent or high risk. If he had done his homework, the menteri besar would have discovered the findings of the Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health 2003 report by the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN).
They indicate that the lack of knowledge and awareness of sexual reproductive health information among teenagers in Malaysia has resulted in 27 percent of youth (boys and girls) already having had premarital sex. Young men have been found to be actively looking for sex workers for their first sexual experience and individuals as young as nine have had sex. The Second National Health and Morbidity Study (1996) found that two percent of 30,000 secondary school students from 708 schools surveyed have had sexual experience.
Another national study on reproductive health of adolescents in Malaysia conducted by LPPKN in 1994 found that 20 percent of young people had their first sexual intercourse between 1518 years old. Narrowing the sample of research to only those classified in the category of 'high risk delinquents' will dramatically increase the percentage.
Whether as an act of rebellion against social and religious norms or even one's parents; discovery and exploring of one's body and sexuality; seeking pleasure or comfort; sexual abuse by family members, friends or strangers; sexual activity among young men and women in Malaysia is a fact and today's reality.
However, our politicians are used to believing and enforcing their own versions of reality. Whether it is analysis of equity in the national economy or the understanding of social problems, it seems that when they don't like the results of the research, they change it and the perception of reality to suit their assumptions and beliefs.
There is a trend of politicians disbelieving research and evidence (and proud of it!) in the development of our national policies. The report of the menteri besar ordering the UKM researcher to 'correct' his findings is an example of this disappointing attitude.
However, most importantly, I was disgusted and alarmed at the action taken in response to the announcement of the findings whereupon the state government took upon itself the task of 'verifying' the results of the research in an effort to prove the analysis wrong. Government officers were reportedly ordered to contact the respondents of the study to determine whether or not they in fact had sex.
This action represents a violation of research ethics and a desecration of the sanctity of confidentiality under which such studies are conducted. The fact that the officers were able to get hold of the contact details and later interrogated the girls who were part of the study is despicable.
This action should be condemned by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, other institutions of higher learning, and all individual researchers whose work depends on ensuring the confidentiality and identity of those who partake in any kind of research, particularly concerning those who are marginalised by society.
