#MeToo and Vera Lui show why Hong Kong needs better sex education classes
Paul Stapleton says it is time Hong Kong emerged from the extreme conservatism over sex education in schools, and in society as a whole, which makes even celebrities like Vera Lui wait years before being able to talk about sexual assault
The #MeToo campaign took a while to reach Hong Kong, but with hurdler Vera Lui Lai-yiu’s Facebook post about being assaulted by her coach, the issue is now out in the open. Undoubtedly, Lui’s case is the tip of the iceberg. Although sexual harassment has become one of the daily topics in Hong Kong media, whether this will lead to a significant change in behaviour remains to be seen.
In the meantime, this open discussion of deviant sexual behaviour highlights the extremely conservative approach our local school curriculum has towards sex education, and how this relative lack of instruction about sex may have contributed to the long silence before Lui’s brave revelation.