Choose2Protect workshop has been held on the 30th April 2015, at 8pm at DKM Universiti Sains Malaysia by Durex, in partnership with AIESEC in Malaysia, Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO), and the Federation of Reproductive Health Associations, Malaysia (FRHAM).
Aimed to educate young Malaysians about the dangers of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), the workshop was carried out by three peer educators. The peer educators are AIESECers who have received sex education from WAO and FRHAM.
The Project Director, Jessie Yong Qian Mei, as one of the peer educators, during the ice-breaking session, showed students a video that emphasised on the message “Sex is not a stigma. Ignorance is”.
She then presented the facts and statistics in Malaysia.
“Based on the report of the Ministry of Health Malaysia, 51 cases of teen pregnancies have been reported each day. However, this figure only represents those who have been reported, imagine teens who feel ashamed and dared not admit that they’ve pregnant. Also, 45% of the Malaysian youths had their first sex without the protection against STIs. This is then leads to the fact that 21% of Malaysians have been infected with an STI in their lifetime”, said Jessie.
“Our reproductive organs, like penis and vagina, are just like our eyes and mouth. They are parts of our bodies and there is nothing to be ashamed of”, explained Jessie when showing photos of reproductive organs of both sexes to let students understand their reproductive organs.
The workshop also cleared some myths on sex that are normally perceived by majority of people.
One of the myths is that most people think that women cannot get pregnant when she is having menstruation during the sexual intercourse. In fact, according to Jessie, there is no time of the month that is completely safe for unprotected sex.
There is also another common myth where people think if a male draws before ejaculation, a woman would not get pregnant.
“This is not true because before a man ejaculates, there might be some leaking of liquid which contains thousands of sperm. Do bear in mind that it only takes a sperm to fertilise an egg”, explained Jessie.
The second peer educator, Ngoo Xiao Wei, shared knowledge about STIs. There are basically four types of STIs, which are either caused by bacteria, fungi, parasites or viruses. Among these four types of STIs, only STI caused by viruses could not be cured. However, according to Ngoo, prevention is always better than cure. Prevention methods suggested by Ngoo are abstinence and the usage of condom.
Ngoo told students that STIs could only spread through unprotected sex, sharing of needles and syringes and sharing of sex toys. Sharing the same toilet seats, kissing, bitten by a mosquito that has bitten a person with STI, and spitted by a person who has STI do not spread the infection.
Meanwhile, the third peer educator, Erica Seng Ee-Su gave talk on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). AIDS is the disease caused by HIV, the virus. According to Erica, having HIV does not mean that one infects AIDS. She also said that HIV test could be done through a specific blood test in hospitals and clinics.
Even though there is no cure for AIDS, Erica said there are antiretroviral (ARV) drugs that help stop the HIV from spreading. However, one has to continue taking the drugs throughout his life once he starts taking it.
The workshop ends at 9.30pm. Students who attended the talk were given a brochure, a notebook and a badge. They were also required to fill in a questionnaire to assess their knowledge of sexual and reproductive health.
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