DUE JUSTICE: Li Jun, a former civil affairs official in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, hears the first-instance ruling at the city's Liwan District Court on June 14. He was sentenced to a four-year jail term for molesting three boys (CFP)

Child sexual abuse is mostly committed by perpetrators known to children. Data from the Guangdong Provincial Women's Federation show that from 2010 to 2012, more than 2,500 girls under 15 years old had fallen victim to sexual crimes, and two thirds of the offenders were known to the victims.

A survey conducted by Beijing Adolescent Legal Assistance Center also revealed that more than 80 percent of molesters in the 40 child sex abuse cases reported in the media since 2005 were acquainted with the victims.

Sex is a topic that is rarely talked about publicly in China. Many parents are too embarrassed to discuss the topic with their children. When toddlers ask them where they come from, some Chinese parents tend to conveniently answer, "You were picked up from the street," or "You grew out of stones."

Another prevalent misconception among parents is that they believe children need not to be educated about sex until they reach puberty.

However, molestation often occurs much earlier. The Beijing Chaoyang District Court adjudicated 47 child molestation cases from January 2007 to December 2012. Of the victims in these cases, 80.9 percent were under 10, with the youngest victim being only 3 years old.

From 2009 to 2011, the Beijing Fengtai District Court heard 28 child molestation cases, involving 42 victims. Eight of these were aged 3-5 years, and most of the others were 10-13 years old.

Sex education should start from birth, Peng Xiaohui, a sexology professor at Central China Normal University told Shanghai-based Xinmin Evening News.

Zhou Nianli, an associate professor of psychology at the Preschool Education Department of East China Normal University, said that for a 2-year-old, parents can cover the child's private parts with red cloth, and tell the child that, except for parents, no one else can touch these parts. She said that for children aged 3-5 years, parents can show them books and video clips about how a fetus comes into being.

"When children enter kindergarten, parents and teachers should tell them that other people shouldn't touch parts of the body covered by underwear. If something happens, they must tell adults that they can trust. Only if children can identify molestation, can they protect themselves from harm," Peng said.

Some kindergartens and primary schools have started to offer sex education to children. Yet there is still controversy about how to teach the topic and how much should be taught.

In May, a primary school in Hanyang District, Wuhan City in Hubei Province, showed third graders a video of a cesarean birth as part of the school's sex education program. In an online message, a student's mother complained that the video frightened her daughter. The mother, identified by her surname Liu, said that such bloody pictures may have a negative psychological impact on students.

In August 2011, the Beijing Sex-Health Education Research Association introduced a sex education textbook for primary school students. The book answers "where did I come from?" with a description of the reproductive process illustrated with cartoons.

But the book is too bold for some parents, who said that it is pornographic. They worried that curious children will imitate the pictures.

A mother of an 8-year-old, who declined to be named, said that young children have poor judgment; if they think sex is amazing and try it out, the book will do more harm than good. "The more children know about sex, the more likely they will do bad things," she said.

Feng Zhihua, associate managing editor of biomedicine site Dxy.cn, also known as Lilac Garden, said he thinks the textbook content is suitable for primary school students.

"Some adults may think the content is very dirty, yet children may not think so. Their way of thinking is different from ours. We should not only view this issue from our own perspectives. They will get the knowledge sooner or later, so we do not need to dodge the topic," Feng told Xinhua News Agency. Feng, in his 30s, is a father himself.

Tan Yong, headmaster of Langxi Primary School in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said that sex education textbooks for primary students should not mimic those for middle school or college students. Tan said that textbooks for primary students should be compiled by people who understand younger students' psychological characteristics.

Email us at: wanghairong@bjreview.com