Muslim youth in Victoria will soon have access to a tailored child safety curriculum that focuses on relationship and sexuality education, which will improve their personal safety awareness and sexual health literacy.
Researchers from Monash University, together with Independent Schools Victoria, are developing a world-first personal safety and development program for Muslim students in Victorian Islamic schools.
The purpose of the project is to develop a comprehensive school–based personal safety and development program that covers topics such as relationships, sexuality and sex education – subjects previously taboo in Islamic schools.
Lead researcher, Associate Professor Fida Sanjakdar, Senior Lecturer, in the Faculty of Education at Monash University, explains that very little is known about Victorian Muslim youth’s understanding about personal safety. But with around 50 Islamic schools in Australia, catering to the educational needs of about 40,000 students, it’s clearly an issue that affects thousands of families, with the Victorian initiative set to offer interesting insights.
“As researchers, we know very little about Victorian Muslim youth’s understanding about sexual health matters, especially in relation to their personal safety, decision making and actions. There are currently no school-based programs, teacher resources, services, or preventative strategies to support the development of personal safety needs of Muslim youth,” says Associate Professor Sanjakdar.
Community-led collaboration
The program is being developed with a community-led approach with collaboration from Victorian Islamic school leaders, teachers, parents and students, expert sexual health professionals and child educational consultants. The end result will be a program that is culturally and religiously appropriate.
“By working collaboratively with community and participatory-based approaches and methodologies, this project will increase the awareness of safe behaviours and actions intersected with Muslim and Islamic perspectives on sexual health, enhancing Muslim youth, parents and families’ access to information and support,” Associate Professor Sanjakdar says.
The Child Safe Standards is a compulsory policy for all Victorian schools to create and maintain a child safe organisation and protect students from all forms of abuse.
“Independent Schools Victoria is happy to support an education project about protective behaviours we know will be of great benefit to the students of Islamic Schools and the wider community,” Michelle Green, Chief Executive of Independent Schools Victoria, said in a media release.
The program will also include an evaluative component to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the personal safety and development program for Muslim youth to improve personal safety awareness and sexual health education for Victorian Muslim youth.
