Period spot checks must be stopped, condemned: Ex-education minister

 

Former education minister Maszlee Malik has joined the chorus of those condemning the practice of conducting menstrual period spot checks on school girls.

The Simpang Renggam MP said such degrading practices must be stopped and condemned, and should have never happened anywhere, let alone in schools.

"This is clearly a violation of one’s privacy and constitutes physical harassment and abuse; and using the excuse to do so in the name of discipline and education is unjustified in any pedagogy, culture, religion or norms.

"Education should be about love, happiness, nurturing integrity, dignity, sense of responsibility, and mutual respect.

"Our schoolchildren should be kept safe in schools and protected from any form of harm and abuse," Maszlee said in a statement today.

Yesterday, Malaysiakini reported that in multiple schools, girls have to undergo “period spot checks” where they are told to physically prove they are on their period - through means that violate their privacy.

This was according to current students and those who left school up to 20 years ago.

The measures included showing their blood-soaked sanitary pads, doing swabs of their vagina with either cotton buds, tissues, or their fingers, or having a teacher, warden, or school prefect pat them down at the groin to feel if they are wearing a sanitary pad, they said.

Among those who have spoken out against the practice include Penang mufti Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor, and various women leaders and NGOs.

Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) chairperson Azizah Mohd Dun said she was opposed to the practice and would review the complaints. Mara oversees several boarding schools where the spot checks purportedly occur. 

Meanwhile, Deputy Education Minister Muslimin Yahaya said yesterday that he still had not received any information on the matter and as such, was reserving his comments. - Mkini

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