Deputy Women, Community and Family Development Minister Hannah Yeoh has called for a review of a purported Standard Three textbook after it was slammed online for allegedly victim-shaming young girls who fail to protect their modesty.
This comes after one Azrul Mohd Khalib uploaded a picture of a page from the book in question, which teaches young girls the importance of "protecting the modesty of their sexual organs."
The page, titled "Saving modesty," revolves around a fictional character of a young girl called Amira.
In it, Amira's parents are said to be constantly advising her on the need to protect the modesty of her sexual parts by dressing modestly, closing the room door when changing clothes, and avoiding quiet places when she is alone.
Below that illustration, the page lists the consequences should Amira fail to protect her modesty.
It claimed that she would be ashamed of herself and experience emotional disturbances, be shunned by her friends and bring shame to her family's honour.
In his accompanying tweet, Azrul claimed that the picture was taken from a Standard Three school textbook.
"Victim-blaming is not acceptable. Not only does this put the responsibility of preventing sexual harassment solely on the shoulders of a girl, it also implies that she had it coming!
"Shaming kids is not acceptable," he tweeted, while also tagging Yeoh as well as Education Minister Maszlee Malik and his ministry's Twitter handles.
Yeoh responded on Twitter, saying: "In agreement with @azrulmohdkhalid. This needs to be reviewed."
At the time of writing, Azrul's post was retweeted 946 times and received 488 likes.
Many on Twitterjaya also responded to both Azrul's and Yeoh's tweets, questioning whether the book contained lessons for young boys on respecting women's modesty in return.
Others, such as a Twitter user who goes by the handle @geminiesque, protested the seeming victim-shaming, saying Standard Three pupils should instead be taught acceptable and non-acceptable forms of touching, and reporting it.
"The book lists 'not liked by friends' and 'family's honour tarnished' as a consequence... This will only make children reluctant to report any sexual abuse that they experience.
"We should (instead) show the consequences to those who take advantage (of young children).
"To reduce the number of victims of sexual attacks, reduce the number of attackers," @geminiesque posted in a series of tweets.
Malaysiakini has reached out to Education Minister Maszlee Malik and his ministry for a response. - Mkini
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