KUCHING: DAP Kuching Women Wing Deputy Chief Lesley Chong has urged the Ministry of Education, schools, teachers, and parents to prioritise early intervention through Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and media literacy programmes in schools.
She made the call following the shocking case of a 14-year-old boy who fatally stabbed a 16-year-old girl after she reportedly rejected his advances.
Chong said the tragedy reflected a toxic mindset of male entitlement that has become normalised, especially through social media where male dominance and aggression are often glorified.
“Many teenagers today are influenced by so-called ‘Alpha male’ influencers and online communities that promote harmful gender stereotypes. They portray women as prizes to be won and teach boys that rejection is humiliation, pushing them to view violence as a show of masculinity,” she said.
She warned that repeated exposure to such content could shape young people’s beliefs and behaviour, desensitising them to violence and reinforcing the idea that control or punishment is an acceptable reaction to rejection.
“When a boy believes he has the right to harm a girl simply because she said ‘no,’ it reveals a dangerous social conditioning that equates rejection with humiliation and violence with validation,” Chong said.
She called on educators and parents to be trained to spot early warning signs in students who show obsessive, possessive, or violent behaviour, stressing that such tendencies must not be dismissed as typical teenage behaviour.
Chong further urged the Ministry of Education to introduce UN-endorsed Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and gender sensitivity programmes that focus on empathy, respect, consent, boundaries, and emotional regulation rather than on sexual activity.
She also emphasised the importance of media literacy education, especially as children are constantly exposed to online content that normalises toxic masculinity and harmful gender stereotypes.
“It is essential to equip young people with the skills to recognise and reject damaging narratives that promote disrespect or violence towards others,” she said.
Chong described the death of the teenage girl as a national wake-up call demanding urgent action from policymakers, educators, and communities to address gender-based violence, even among minors.
“Every case ignored, every red flag dismissed, is a life potentially lost. We owe it to every child, especially young girls in Malaysia, to ensure their right to safety, respect, and life is protected, both inside and outside the classroom,” she said.
By Connie Chieng