Need for comprehensive sex education

Sri Lankan international cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka has been charged with allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in Sydney during a tour of Australia. That country’s police said the cricketer, who is in Australia for the T20 World Cup, allegedly assaulted a woman multiple times over a period of several hours. Gunathilaka was arrested and produced in a court of law that remanded him. In the wake of this incident many shortcomings in Sri Lankan law and education system have become glaringly evident, especially considering the reaction to this alleged crime.

Last year New South Wales passed sexual consent laws in relation to ‘Affirmative Consent’ that made significant changes to the definition on consent. As per the new law, consent is defined as ‘free and voluntary agreement to sexual activity’ and ‘free and voluntary agreement’ is based on affirmative consent which requires ‘ongoing and mutual communication’ and ‘is not to be presumed.’ The amendments make clear that an individual is not considered to have consented unless expressly said so or indicated. A person cannot consent if they do not communicate consent, are incapable of consenting due to drug or alcohol intake, are asleep or unconscious, or due to force/fear of serious harm.

Sri Lankan law has hardly seen such evolution of laws that would reflect the contemporary society and rights of women. For example, under general law of the country that is stipulated in Roman Dutch Law a woman consents to sexual relations at the time of marriage for perpetuity. Such sexist notions of conferring a right on men to have sexual relations with their spouses rather than a consensual relationship lays the foundations in the legal system that has treated sexual relations in the 19th century context of male rights.

Even more concerning in the wake of the recent scandal is the evidently lack of knowledge among young people in Sri Lanka about their sexual and reproductive health and the legal parameters of their sexual activities. This is an indictment of the lack of sex education within the local curricula which has been intentionally stifled due to vested interests for years. As a result, reports have indicated that 66% of girls in Sri Lanka are not aware of menstruation or the basics of their reproductive health.

Comprehensive sexuality education is a curriculum-based process of teaching and learning about the cognitive, emotional, physical and social aspects of sexuality. It aims to equip children and young people with knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that will empower them to: realise their health, wellbeing and dignity; develop respectful social and sexual relationships; consider how their choices affect their own wellbeing and that of others and, understand and ensure the protection of their rights throughout their lives.

For the longest time, professionals have been advocating to include sex education in Sri Lankan school textbooks as a vital learning for adolescents. The objective of sex education is to educate youngsters on topics such as safe and healthy sexual practices, consent, sexually transmitted illnesses, and/or the legal consequences of criminal sexual behaviour, etc. These efforts have failed due to interventions by religious leaders and others who should not be taking key decisions regarding education.

The reaction to the Dhanushka Gunathilaka case demonstrates the dire necessity for Sri Lanka to focus on comprehensive sexuality education.