Perceptions of Criminalization towards Sex Education among a Generational Sample of Canadian Pakistani Muslims

• In Event: Global Cultural Criminology

Abstract

Of late, the Liberal government and the Ontario Ministry of Education implemented revisions to the provincial sex education curriculum. The revised curriculum included elements of gender expression, sexting, internet use/abuse and same-sex relationship dialogue between students and teachers. These revisions led to intense debate of sex education in Ontario by many. At the forefront of these protests were South Asians from diverse backgrounds, but specifically those of Muslim descent belonging to the Pakistani community. The content, cultural and religious appropriateness, as well as age of learning was awkward and unconventional and threatened the familial social order, cultural norm and collectivistic patriarchal family life creating, at times, a generational divide. Influences stemming from the host society creates awareness, change and conflict. The aim of this thesis is to qualitatively (i.e., face-to-face interviews) explore 16 Canadian Pakistani Muslims perceptions and process of stigmatization, marginalization and criminalization towards the newly revised sex education curriculum by generation using Berger’s (1967) Heretical Imperative and Crenshaw’s (1991) Intersectionality perspective. Research in this area is scarce and limited and thus my thesis aims to reconcile gaps in the scholarship and mobilize and share knowledge to educators and policy makers.

Authors

• Mehek Arif, University of Ontario Institute of Technology

• Arshia U. Zaidi, University of Ontario Institute of Technology

• Shahid Alvi, University of Ontario Institute of Technology