Countries in the region increasingly acknowledge the importance of equipping young people with the knowledge, attitudes and skills to make responsible choices in their lives
PICTURE this. A nine-year-old in Malaysia, reading about a character named Amira in a school textbook, is told to take three steps to protect the “modesty of her genitals” and keep social ostracisation and family shame at bay. Imagine. The societal pressure, responsibility and burden on girls to conform. Imagine the victim blaming should they “fail” to do so.