Sex Education Can Prevent Sexual Abuse: Canadian Expert

Canada has started talking about sexual assaults and reporting such cases to the authorities. Many believe that "prevention is better than cure."

Such discussions started after former CBC Radio host Jian Ghomeshi had been terminated by the news network due to his sexual practices. Further investigations in the issue revealed that several former colleagues had allegedly been victims of Ghomeshi's sexual violence. Several women complained that Ghomeshi had sexually abused them, while a few of them filed legal complaints against him. This high profile case sparked debate in Canada on a national level about how to facilitate reporting such cases. CTV News reported that some advocated in favour of preventing such situation from happening.

Kim Stanton from the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund said that it is important to teach young people about the "law of consent." Consent cannot be assumed as it should be "renewed at every stage," she said. While Ghomeshi did accept that he had engaged in "rough sex" with his former girlfriends, he claimed that everything had been consensual between them. Stanton's argument came in the context of Ghomeshi's claim. Sex education in the country should include the issue of consent, according to her. She said that she was not sure if Canadian school kids were exposed to the issue of consent in a healthy manner.

The government announced that it would reintroduce the sex-education curriculum in Ontario. It was earlier withdrawn in 2010 as some of the religious leaders had objected to it. The re-introduced curriculum will teach Grade 3 students about same-sex marriages and homosexuality as well. Grade 6 students will be encouraged to talk about puberty-related issues like masturbation, while Grade 7 students will discuss how to prevent sexually transmitted diseases in reference to anal and oral sex.

Education Minister Liz Sandals, on the other hand, said that the issue of consent would be "explicitly" dealt with in the curriculum. "We need to have young people understanding what a healthy relationship looks like, because if you look at the video games and rock videos and things that they consume, those are not portrayals of healthy relationships," she said.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au