Beijing NGO teaches young rural girls to protect themselves from sexual assault

On a recent afternoon in a village in Hebei , a counsellor stood before about three dozen girls in a primary school classroom and asked: "Where on your bodies are your private parts?"

The girls, aged nine to 10, were silent at first, but then a few tentative hands shot up.

"The mouth," they replied. "Ears." "Head." "Temple."

The counsellor, Wang Ling, said such misconceptions were common among young girls in rural areas, where teachers had no experience in discussing sexual abuse with their pupils.

That is what has brought groups like Wang's, the Maple Women's Psychological Counselling Centre in Beijing, to schools such as the Xiaoyou village primary school in Zhao county, about 40 kilometres southeast of Shijiazhuang , the provincial capital.

In an experimental programme, counsellors are giving a series of lessons to pupils - and their teachers - on what constitutes inappropriate touching and how children should respond when it occurs.

According to an official report released by the Guangdong provincial government last year, more than 70 per cent of sexual abuse cases happen in schools.

The problem rose to national attention in May, when a school principal and government official were arrested on charges of child molestation in Hainan . A court found the pair had taken six girls to a hotel to rape them. They were sentenced to 13½ years and 11½, respectively, although parents said the judges had been lenient.

Last week, a court in Jiangxi province sentenced a principal to 14 years in jail for abusing seven girls under his care, and infecting them with a sexually transmitted disease.

The parents of the victims in that case also thought the sentence "was too light as some even felt [he] deserved the death penalty", Wang Yu , a Beijing lawyer retained by three of the victims' parents, told the South China Morning Post.

Late last month, guidelines aimed at preventing child molestation in schools were released by four central government agencies, including the Ministry of Education, and the All-China Women's Federation.

But several teachers in Beijing and Hangzhou, when contacted soon after the release of the guidelines, were not even aware they existed.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Security co-issued the first bylaw to punish child sex criminals.

Wang Ling said pupils must be given a basic knowledge about their bodies, no matter how awkward the lessons seemed at first.

"This work is so important. Someday my one hour of teaching could save a pupil from harm," she said.

She explained to the girls what she meant when she said they should not let others touch them inappropriately. The idea confused many girls who insisted that an uncle, an aunt or a teacher were not "others", but rather someone they know.

"Others are people besides yourself," Wang Ling told the girls. "Now repeat after me: I decide for my own body!"

This time without hesitation, the girls said loud and clear: "I decide for my own body!"

At the classroom door, the headmaster, Geng Jiangtao, watched the scene unfold. He had decided to invite Wang's group after listening to one of their sessions at a nearby village school.

"I discussed it with officials at another school, who felt the sessions would help improve students' confidence and grades," he said.

While lessons about sexual abuse are invaluable in their own right, Geng said he had to be pragmatic about the realities that schools face: their top priority was to help pupils do well in tests so they can move on to secondary school. There are fewer than a dozen teachers at his school responsible for 200 pupils. Almost every teacher handled different subjects for two grades.

"We don't have any arts classes as we don't have anyone who can teach them. We need outside counselling like Wang's group provides. They can really help our pupils," he said.

Wang, the counsellor and another co-worker of hers played out a scenario of how inappropriate touching might happen.

The girls giggled when the counsellors pretended to touch their hands and arms. But they quickly learned how to say no.

When asked what they should do, they came up with the idea of finding a police officer, running to a toilet or just shouting "help".

Teachers were grateful that their pupils were receiving the lessons, but some said they did not know how to broach the subject in their own classes. "It is too odd" to suddenly talk about sexual abuse, one said.

The training is being sponsored by the Shanghai United Foundation, which has supported the development of Chinese NGOs since 2009. There will be five more sessions at the school to further introduce the topic to pupils, teachers and parents.

Guo Yongshui , the NGO's programme co-ordinator, said rural areas had a long way to go in properly addressing the issue. "Anything related to sex could be seen as sensitive."

He recalled that at a session for 700 primary school pupils in April, he could not even use the term "child sex abuse" so called it "safety education".

This time Guo was able to publish his programme's name as "female child sexual abuse prevention education".

But much remains to be done. "We need to reach more rural schools," Guo said.