The Talk: Sex-Ed Finally Acknowledged by Chinese Law

Mark Karanja theBeijinger

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While doing research for a piece in our September beijingkids Relationships-issue, we came across a study from 2014 done by the China Family Planning Association (CFPA) showing that only 10 percent of nearly 20,000 university students from over 130 universities surveyed had received any sexual education in primary school. Additionally, CFPA found that 80 percent of parents surveyed felt unable to talk to their children about sexual matters and reproductive health. You might be thinking, “But that was six years ago. Surely something has changed in six years?” However, a study conducted as recently as 2019 by UNESCO/UNFPA found that less than half of respondents presented with the statement, “a woman cannot refuse to have sex with her husband,” disagreed.

All this can be linked to China’s long tradition of modesty, especially when it comes to matters of sex and sexuality, with such topics falling under the long list of taboo subjects not to be discussed in polite company. Nevertheless, the Healthy China initiative (2019 – 2030) was launched by the Chinese government in response to some of these long-standing challenges. “In the beginning, we called it an adolescent health program to avoid unnecessary opposition, but it is essentially sexuality education encompassing physiological, psychological, ethical, and legal aspects,” Ms. Hong Ping, CFPA Commissioner, said at a UNESCO-hosted dialogue in Beijing in 2019. “Now it has become one of the top-10 branded government programs that serve the grassroots communities.” This program was, however, not mandatory in all schools across the country, with each school taking its own initiative to teach as much or as little as they saw fit.

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However, all this is set to change as the government has officially enacted measures to protect minors both on and offline, and the phrase “sex education” has officially been incorporated into Chinese law. The revised law mandates schools to prioritize the education of minors on sexual issues. Under this new law, sex-ed classes will not be the exception, but the norm. Additionally, schools will be required to check the legal records of applicants for teaching positions before green-lighting them.

All this comes in response to research like that done by Girl Protection, a Beijing-based nonprofit, which found that a little over 70 percent of all accused predators in cases of sexual abuse are well known to the victim, including teachers, while 34 percent of all alleged cases of sexual misconduct occur at schools. It also comes in response to cases such as one involving over 80 students from a middle school in Mianyang City, Sichuan Province, who accused their former teacher of harassment leading to his arrest in May of this year.

Such strides in the law are bound to put parents who are constantly worried about their children’s security and safety at ease. With all the issues kids continue to face, it is a comforting thought to know that sex-education and protection against sexual violence are two fewer things for parents to worry about.