UNAIR NEWS – Dozens of mothers sat in a circle in a simple pavilion called Taman Baca Masyarakat Makam Rangkah. They listened to a counseling presentation from Savy Amira Siti Y. Mazdafiah related to preventing and handling sexual violence.
“So why sexual violence may happen is not because of women’s clothing, or women walking around at night, moms. Sexual violence occurred because men thought they could do anything to women. They did not respect woman’s dignity. It is called gender inequality,” Siti emphasized.
The counseling is a part of activities planned by Group 41 of 65th KKN BBM UNAIR. The group’s main program is sex education to the community in Kampung Makam Umum Rangkah, Surabaya. The editorial group had the opportunity to interview Group Leader Alina Salya Rochma on Friday morning, February 4, 2022, to explore the ins and outs of her group’s activities.
“We feel that sex education is essential, considering recent news reporting sexual violence cases are increasing. So our goal is to provide knowledge about the efforts that can be made in the event of sexual violence. Moreover, we also want to achieve SDGs goal number 5, which is gender equality,” stated the FIB UNAIR student.
Ayak also explained that excellent and correct sex education is often unaffordable for the lower middle class. She added that the impact of the lack of access to sex education, such as on early marriage and unwanted pregnancy, tends to happen to a certain class. Therefore, Kampung Makam Umum Rangkah was chosen as the location of the implementation of KKN.
The target audience for this counseling is varied, from elementary students to adults. Ayak explained that educational materials for elementary students only revolve around privacy and autonomy of the body and 3L principles (Look, Listen, Link) when seeing or hearing cases of sexual violence. As for adults, materials revolved around the types of sexual violence, why sexual violence can occur, and how to prevent and deal with it.
“So we do this periodically within one month, the speaker is our group member and from an outside party like Savy Amira. The scope of the audience we reach extends not only in Taman Baca but also in SDN 5 Simokerto and SDN 6 Simokerto where many children from the village attend school there,” stated the class of 2019 student.
Ayak also stated that her group’s program is not limited to sex education. They also focused on SDG 4, quality education through teaching programs and scholarship dissemination.
“We also open book donations and money which will be handed to the villagers. With this, hopefully, Taman Baca Masyarakat Rangkah can have new and more interesting stocks of books, and the funds can be utilized for the village’s wellbeing,” she concluded.
Author: Pradnya Wicaksana
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
