From 2021, schools should conduct ‘age-appropriate sex education for minors’, helping them protect themselves against abuse and sexual harassment
China remains cautious in making education changes, especially on sexuality, according to Unesco Beijing
By Sarah Wu
Minutes before Professor Liu Wenli was set to speak in a webinar on the development of sex education in China, she learned that the country’s top legislative body had passed an amendment making sex education mandatory from next year.
She quickly added a new slide on the change, according to her research group’s WeChat account, with the amended law mandating the inclusion in school syllabuses of “sex education”.
Those three Chinese characters can also be translated as “sexuality education”, which Liu and her fellow advocates have long fought for. In 2017, a textbook series she edited was removed from a school after complaints about explicit content and that the books normalised homosexuality. Read more via Reuters/South China Morning Post
Today should be remembered! “Sexuality education (性教育)” the term, finally, has been written in Chinese law for the first time. The amended Law of the Peoples Republic of China on the Protection of Minors will start to be enacted on June 1 2021. pic.twitter.com/cX6crwcEkR
— Chong Liu 刘翀 (@liuchonglll) October 17, 2020
Excerpt
Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors (2020 Revision) [Not Yet Effective]中华人民共和国未成年人保护法(2020修订) [尚未生效] via Law Info China
Article 40 Schools and kindergartens shall establish a work system for preventing sexual assault and sexual harassment of minors. Schools and kindergartens shall not conceal illegal and criminal acts such as sexual assault and sexual harassment of minors, and shall report to the public security organs and education administrative departments in a timely manner, and cooperate with the relevant departments on handling them in accordance with the law.
Schools and kindergartens shall provide age-appropriate sex education for minors, and improve their self-protection awareness and ability of preventing sexual assault and harassment. Schools and kindergartens shall adopt relevant protective measures in a timely manner for minors who have suffered sexual assault and harassment.
第四十条 学校、幼儿园应当建立预防性侵害、性骚扰未成年人工作制度。对性侵害、性骚扰未成年人等违法犯罪行为，学校、幼儿园不得隐瞒，应当及时向公安机关、教育行政部门报告，并配合相关部门依法处理。
学校、幼儿园应当对未成年人开展适合其年龄的性教育，提高未成年人防范性侵害、性骚扰的自我保护意识和能力。对遭受性侵害、性骚扰的未成年人，学校、幼儿园应当及时采取相关的保护措施。