Children must understand how to protect themselves and how to respond to dangerous situations, a member of the parliamentary organizing committee says.

With the public conversation on ending child rape growing in Burma, the Mon State parliament’s Women’s and Children’s Rights Committee has organized a ‘rape prevention awareness training’ for children.

The training will be called “Sharing Knowledge to Protect Children From Harm,’ and will include children, parents, and teachers.

“We are teaching how children can protect themselves or how to respond if children face harmful situations,” Daw Khaing Khaing Lae, chairperson the parliamentary committee, told NMG.

She added that it is not sufficient for parents to understand the dangers of child rape: children also must understand how to protect themselves and how to respond to dangerous situations.

The training will be offered in government schools in Mawlamyine, Thaton and Chaungzon townships in Mon State. The workshops will then be evaluated before expanding to other townships.

Coordinating for the trainings will be the Women’s and Children’s Rights Committee, Mon State’s Child Rights Committee, CARE Myanmar, Warm Heart, Shwe Kyun Thar social volunteer group, and the department of education.

According to Daw Khaing Khaing Lae, the number of child rape cases has increased in Mon State in recent years. The number of rape cases reported in the first half of 2019 is equal to the number reported in the whole of 2018.

A recent campaign on social media called “Justice for Victoria” has brought the issue of child rape to the forefront. It calls for the arrest of the perpetrator in the rape of a toddler in a Naypyidaw nursery school in May.