MANY teenagers do not know they are pregnant until it is too late, says OrphanCare Foundation project coordinator Noor Halimahton Sa’adiah Talib.
“There are many we have seen who think they are just having stomach issues or a tumour, and when they go to the hospital, it turns out they are pregnant or, worse, in labour,” she told StarEdu.
Then, there are situations where the girl does not even know she was raped, especially if it was by a family member, she added.
All this stems from a lack of information, noted Noor Halimahton Sa’adiah.
Usually, she said, the teenagers who get pregnant do not understand the full extent of what can happen when they engage in any form of sexual behaviour.
While stigma remains a barrier to having sexual and reproductive health education (SRHE) widely or openly discussed with youth, Noor Halimahton Sa’adiah said there needs to be some level of societal stigma.
“Otherwise, this will be normalised, and we do not want underage or out-of-wedlock sexual relations happening at all,” she added.
She shared that during one of their SRHE programmes, an academic wanted to know who in the audience had asked about the efficacy of a contraceptive.
She also noted that most parents and teachers are shy and hesitant to discuss body safety or reproductive education with their children.
“While we cannot control morality, we need to make sure the youth are safe,” she stressed, adding that underage pregnancies are a public health issue.
OrphanCare has been running a programme called “Sinar” (Inclusive Support for Autism, Adolescents, and Vulnerable Communities) to provide reproductive health awareness initiatives to youth nationwide since 2019.
Among the topics covered are body safety, sexual harassment and rape.
Noor Halimahton Sa’adiah said the activities and discussions are carried out in an age-appropriate and interactive manner, so that students open up, share and learn.
The module is certified by the National Population and Family Development Board, and was expanded last year when the foundation received funding from Yayasan Sime Darby and the Finance Ministry.
Taylor’s University Master of Clinical Psychology programme director Dr Lim Hooi Shan said dealing with the stigma surrounding SRHE requires public awareness and psychoeducation that is culturally and religiously sensitive, yet uncompromising on safety.
“Sex education should be developmentally aligned and delivered as a continuous conversation starting early in life. For children aged 0 to five, the focus should be on learning about body parts and personal boundaries to prevent the topic from becoming taboo later.
“By adolescence, young people should already have a clear understanding of body autonomy and the importance of making decisions based on health rather than peer pressure,” she added.
