PETALING JAYA: The National Population and Family Development Board’s (LPPKN) “sayno2zina” (say no to illicit sex) posters are not going down well with women’s groups.

Women’s Center for Change, Penang programme director Karen Lai said that while the intention of LPPKN and the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry may be to tackle social issues such as unwanted pregnancies and baby dumping, the underlying message on the poster does not address the issues.

“The messaging appears to be moralistic and judgemental. While we understand that the ministry intends to tackle what it perceives to be the root causes of unwanted pregnancies and baby dumping, the underlying message of “Jaga Diri”, “Stay Abstinent” and so on is not helpful," she said.

The posters - available on the LPPKN website - include one that says "all religions forbid sex before marriage” along with the hashtags #jagadiri and #stayabstinent and the catchphrase, “sayno2zina” printed boldly on it.

She added that preaching religious adherence does not solve the problem.

"We appear to be regressing towards a conservative approach to the situation instead of taking a much needed reality check of the current circumstances of our children and helping to protect them," said Lai.

Lai said what is needed is to teach children the importance of bodily autonomy, mutual respect and maturity in understanding the consequences of one’s actions.

"Equally important is an emphasis on the role that boys and men play in the picture, without laying the blame or responsibility on women and girls to protect their dignity," said Lai.

Similar views were shared by Asia Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (Arrow) executive director Sivananthi Thanenthiran, who said that even with sex within marriage there still can be coercion, sexually transmitted infections, unintended pregnancies and sexual violence.

“It is possible to have sex only within marriage, but still suffer from these. It is important to state that respect for each other, consent and mutual pleasure are key components in a relationship, rather than just the institution of marriage," she said.

Sivananthi said the message on the poster that one should abstain from sex before marriage is a religious ideal, adding much data and evidence showed premarital sex occurred due to ignorance and a lack of information in matters pertaining to sex and reproduction.

She also said that there needs to be education on the concepts of consent and coercion, on sexuality and sexual expression.

“Even if a young woman was religious, she is still human and wishes to explore her sexuality and express it and she should be free to do so. She should also be able to protect herself from pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections,” she said.

Sisters in Islam communications manager Majidah Hashim said the poster went against LPPKN’s National Reproductive and Social Health Education Policy “to increase the knowledge on sexual reproductive health among Malaysians.”

She also said that the policy is not meant to police or judge the morality of Malaysians, and added that the poster does little to uphold the policy’s implementation strategy.

Madijah said the policy's implementation strategy advocates for reducing sensitivity and misconception on reproductive and social health education through specialised support programmes for parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, health care providers, carers and society.

Meanwhile, Women’s Aid Organisation’s advocacy and communications officer Tan Heang Lee concurs, saying the focus should be on empowering youths with information rather than shaming them about their sexuality instead of preaching abstinence.

“Research shows that sexuality education that only teaches abstinence is ineffective in reducing unintended pregnancies. Apart from being highly unrealistic, such messaging teaches young people to be ashamed of their sexuality,” says Tan.