Conservative MP Nadine Dorries wants teaching schoolgirls to say no to sex to go on the school curriculum (Tory MP: teenage girls should be taught how to say no to sex, 5 May).
She's provoked a lot of understandable kerfuffle along the lines that sex is a two-way street and boys also have a responsibility. But there's a serious point here and we need to be careful about giving Nadine Dorries the Mary Whitehouse treatment. What she is highlighting – however heavy handedly – is the undisputable fact that our children are becoming sexualised at a younger and younger age, and it's this issue that needs to be tackled even more urgently.
Our society is so sexualised that it's impossible to shield children – and of course they do need to learn about sex in an appropriate context – but it should be possible to protect them from extreme elements and premature sexual activity. That's what Ed Vaizey and Claire Perry's campaign to get an opt-in system for internet porn is all about. Educating girls and boys that abstinence is an option is a very sensible thing to do. So sensible, that I doubt there's a decent school in the country that doesn't already do it.
Dr Helen Wright
President, Girls' Schools Association
• Nadine Dorries's just-say-no-to-sex bill is entirely misguided and risks turning the clock back on the rights of women and girls. There is no evidence that abstinence programmes reduce teenage pregnancies or promote healthy relationships. Rather, they deny young people crucial information they need about sexual consent, respect and equality – vital in our society which is saturated by sexualised images that give young people a distorted view of sex and gender roles.
Dorries's view that girls should be taught to "say no to a boyfriend who insists on sexual relations" smacks of the worst kind of victim-blaming for sexual violence. Where are boys and men's responsibilities in all this for ensuring consent?
The 10-minute rule bill should never have got this far and only did so because not enough MPs took it seriously. While it is unlikely to become law, those members of parliament who know it is the wrong approach need to stand up and be counted when it comes back to the Commons.
Holly Dustin
Director, End Violence Against Women Coalition