Ila supports educating young girls on cyber security
KUCHING: Having a younger sister was the reason recording artiste Ila Damiaa attended a youth town hall session here in support of education on cyber grooming and sexual health.
Ila, 28, who was mentored by recording artiste Joe Flizzow, gave her support to the #SayaSayangSaya initiative which promotes discussions about cyber grooming and sexual health education among students around the country.
“Sexual education is a very serious topic that needs to be discussed.
“For example, before attending the town hall, most of the students didn’t know what sexual grooming was,” said Ila.
The youth town hall series was co-organised by Unicef, Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, WOMEN:girls, and The Star’s R.AGE, and supported by the Federation of Reproductive Health Associations Malaysia (FRHAM) and the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM).
Yesterday, the students watched an episode from R.AGE’s investigative documentary series Predator in My Phone, which was followed by a panel discussion with representatives from PDRM, FRHAM, Digi and R.AGE.
“The students not only asked questions, they offered solutions and expressed a need to be part of that solution,” Unicef Malaysia communication specialist Indra Kumari Nadchatram said.
“This demonstrates that young people want the space to learn and discuss their realities, and if we listen, the elders can learn and gain a more nuanced understanding which will help us design more youth-centred policies and programmes,” she added.
The nationwide series which will include Pahang, Terengganu, Sabah and Kelantan aims to raise awareness and prompt conversation on online sexual grooming and Internet safety among the public, especially schoolchil- dren and adolescents.
It provides participants a venue to share their experiences, concerns and recommendations on Internetrelated sexual violence.
The town halls are open to the public.
Register at http://bit.ly/sayang2017 and get more updates about upcoming events at fb.com/ragepmp.