The healthy look at sex that is helping to halt a killer disease

In a society where sex and Aids are often only murmured about quietly, one woman is making a lot of noise.

Atty Ching Tsui-wan is the founder and director of Teen Aids, an organisation that aims to prevent the spread of Aids by providing sex education to young people and adults.

The group is supported entirely by donations and relies on volunteers to help spread the message about safe sex. But for Ms Ching, the hard work is worth it.

'At Teen Aids, we believe sex education to be the foundation of Aids prevention in youths,' she said. 'Many people in Hong Kong still believe only white, homosexual males can contract Aids. They don't realise it is something that can affect Asians, heterosexuals and females too.'

These misconceptions added to the unwillingness of more traditional Chinese parents to discuss sex with their children, and made sex a very confusing subject for teenagers, she said.

'Parents don't understand that children are interested in sex. Although their parents may not talk about it, they are exposed to sex every day; from television, magazines, advertisements and much more,' said Ms Ching.

'The relationship between media and sex education is very important. We should not miss the impact of the media on youths as it carries a lot of messages concerning sex. Some are very erotic and it is natural for children to want to know more.'

Parents often become shocked, scared or angry when they found their child expressing an interest in sex or exploring their own sexuality, said Ms Ching. She recalled an incident in which she received a phone call in the middle of the night from friends.

'They were highly educated people. When they called me, they were very anxious. They told me they had caught their child doing something very unusual. She had been exploring her body. They wanted to know if something was wrong with her. They thought she had a problem.'

Instead of repressing their child's interest in sex, Ms Ching said that parents should teach them about it from an early age to dispel some of the playground myths they were likely to hear from other children.

'To teach children about sex, first we need to teach the adults about the right way to teach children. But before any teaching can be done, the parents have to calm down and realise that it's normal for children to be interested in sex,' she said.

In addition to youth sex education, Teen Aids also targets society's traditionally more conservative-minded groups - such as parents, church leaders, social workers and teachers.

'They are our secondary targets for sex education after youths, as sex is still very much a taboo subject in the Chinese community. We are trying very hard to break this taboo,' said Ms Ching.

'We teach them how to answer questions about sex, about the transmission route of Aids, how to protect their kids from sexual abuse, and the concept and definition of sexual harassment.'

Ms Ching believes parental education is very important and talking to children about the facts of life in their mid-teens is leaving it too late.

In Ms Ching's experience, educating people about sex is not always easy because the Chinese community often has a fixed attitude and is unwilling to talk about it.

Teen Aids uses unusual methods such as art, games, drama, dance and music to get the message about Aids and safe sex across effectively.

'Sometimes we collaborate with Aids patients who share their stories with youths in our talks. This usually has quite an impact on [them] as they don't realise how easy it is for normal people to contract Aids,' Ms Ching said.

Although it is not compulsory for schools to provide sex education in Hong Kong, Ms Ching believes the government should do more to promote safe sex and Aids prevention.

'I have been urging them over and over again to do something but every year they just tell me that they have a lot on their agenda and that sex education is not important,' she said.

'Some of the girls I've encountered have experienced three or more abortions. When I ask them why they don't have safe sex, they tell me their boyfriends don't want to and they end up having to use abortion as contraception.'

For more information about Teen Aids, call 2870 1222.