Girls must be taught how to say no, MP tells Commons

Tory Nadine Dorries (Mid Bedfordshire) said that while secondary school pupils were shown how to put condoms on bananas and to self-diagnose sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), they should also be told “how to say no”.

“Society is saturated in sex,” said Ms Dorries.

“We need to let young girls know that to say no to sex when you’re under pressure is a cool thing to do. It’s as cool as learning how to apply a condom.”

She blamed Britain’s high teenage pregnancy rate on TV references to sex, newsagents stocking porn magazines, NHS trusts advising young people to masturbate twice a week and high-street stores such as Primark selling padded bikinis for seven-year-old girls.

Ms Dorries added: “To make them available, market them and target seven-year old girls with padded bikinis epitomises how far the sexualisation of young girls has gone in our society.”

She said she believed that alongside traditional sex education, teachers should make teenagers more aware of the benefits of choosing not to have sex.

“The answer to ending our constant struggle with the incredibly high rate of teenage sexual activity and underage pregnancies lies in teaching our girls and boys about the option of abstinence, the ability to ‘just say no’ as part of their compulsory sex education,” said Ms Dorries.

Unveiling her Ten-Minute Rule Bill in the Commons calling for schools to give girls aged 13 to 16 extra sex education, including the benefits of abstinence, she added: “This is about giving empowerment to young girls.”

But Labour’s Chris Bryant (Rhondda), who has investigated Britain’s high rate of teenage pregnancies, branded Ms Dorries’ Bill “the daftest piece of legislation I have seen”.

He said there was no evidence that teaching abstinence would lead to fewer pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases.

“The single most important thing we can do for any young person is give them the self-confidence to be able to make good decisions for themselves,” said Mr Bryant.

He added: “I’ve never understood why putting a condom on a banana or a cucumber is of any use to anybody.”

MPs voted 67 to 61, majority six, in favour of allowing Ms Dorries to bring forward her Bill.

It will receive its second reading in January but is unlikely to become law without Government support.