AdminSisters in Islam (SIS) has urged the Ministry of Education (MOE) to enforce clear deterrent guidelines to eradicate period spot checks and uphold the right to a safe learning environment for young girls.
Reflecting on Senior Education Minister, Datuk Dr Radzi Md Jidin latest statement passing off the practice of conducting period spot checks as a tradition carried out by senior students, SIS has called the source of these practices to be investigated further and traced to the responsible parties.
It has urged the MOE to tap into a wider source of information by collecting empirical evidence and factual insights from all reported schools, and interviewing larger groups of victims.
An analysis conducted by All Women’s Action Society (Awam) on sexual harassment in educational institutions found that out of 311 perpetrators, 79 .4 percent were authority figures within school.
The analysis conducted on April 2021, collected 275 testimonials through social media which provided specific details about the nature of violations involved.
The highest among them involved stripping and showing pads to authority figures with 30 reports, followed by 23 reports of groping and 21 reports of cotton bud/tissue swabs.
SIS also acknowledged MOE’s initiative to visit and investigate schools in question as demonstrating the seriousness of the issue adding that clear regulations set by authorities will help towards Malaysia’s aspirations to be a progressive nation that upholds the rights of every individual.
“SIS strongly believes a concerted effort between organisations including government agencies, religious authorities, civil society, legal professionals as well as academic institutions make a big difference in frog-leaping efforts to defend human rights, especially women’s lives, irrespective of their ethnicities and differences in religion,” said Rozana Isa, Executive Director of SIS.
Sashidaran Gunathevan
Imran Hilmy
