False sense of safety

However, this sense of safety is plainly misguided. Statistics released by the official Provincial Women's Federation in Guangdong, a province that has probably seen the largest population in flux, show that between 2008 and 2011, there were 1,708 reports of sexual abuse of girls. And according to a 2013 report published by the China Children and Teenagers' Fund, "left-behind children" constituted the largest group of victims, followed by those who, like Meng Meng, were taken to the city by their migrant-worker parents.

Wang Xingjuan (left), founder of the Maple Women's Psychological Counseling Center in Beijing, and her colleague Na Lixin explain the 'sandplay' treatment, a method to examine and reconnoiter a person's mind during psychoanalysis.

"In China, the number of children of migrant workers has officially reached 60 million - and many of them are living in conditions that make them easy prey for sexual predators," said Wang. "Since the situation allows for no further delays, let's talk about it, and talk about it in a classroom."

But that's not an easy task, for the same reason that Wang's mother never raised the issue with her, nor did the 85-year-old with her own daughter when she was young. "Chinese parents don't talk to their children about sex, and they are extremely reluctant to let anyone else to do so," she said.

Given that attitude, it came as no surprise when Wang and her colleagues at the center approached several primary schools in and outside of Beijing and asked to present their own colorfully painted brochure entitled The Prevention Of Child Abuse - A Self-Help Book, they received a unanimous "No". "All the schools were concerned about the prospect of a protest from parents, and the vague connection people might be tempted to make between holding such a class and the school's own record."

But one door was eventually prised open in the winter of 2011, thanks to the persistence of Guo Yongshui, an officer on the Maple Center's project, who accidentally discovered that one of his childhood friends was the headmaster of a local primary school in the village of Changxinying in the northern province of Hebei. After long hours on the phone, during which Guo argued and pleaded, he was given permission, albeit reluctantly, on condition that "sex" should not be mentioned, only "safety".

"That's how we went in, and throughout we did it with great caution," said Wang Ling, a newspaper-editor-turned psychologist who is one of the project's most-active participants.

"We started by talking to the teachers and parents, who were mostly in their 20s and 30s. Lectures were given by experts of an older age, including myself, to avoid any sense of embarrassment that might occur," said the 64-year-old. "Rural Chinese society is typically one that the sociologists call "an acquaintances' society", in which offences rarely go unseen, and people are generally unsuspicious. There's also an entrenched fear that any sexual knowledge will automatically pollute the innocent soul of a minor."

Unfortunately, that fear has harmed no one but the children. "In one class, after talking extensively about peripheral things such as fire prevention measures and earthquake safety tips, the psychologist asked the students - mostly aged between 8 and 12 - what the phrase "private parts" referred to.

"They jostled to give answers, which ranged from eyes and mouths to internal organs and in one case the temples. No one got it right. To me, that partly explains why in many instances the abuses were allowed to go on until irreparable damage had been done," Wang Ling said, referring to reports last year of a sexually abused schoolgirl who had no idea what had happened to her even, as her rapidly swelling belly started to weigh on her young body.

It was in sharp contrast to the scenes witnessed by one of Wang Ling's friends, a psychologist, during a visit to a kindergarten in the United Kingdom. The teachers explained the concept of "private parts" and told the children to sound the alarm if anyone, including their own parents, touched those areas.

"Believe me, the age-old advice 'Don't talk to strangers' no long offers adequate protection, because the majority of abusers are known to their young victims - neighbors, teachers, 'friends' of the family and adult male relatives," said Wang Ling. "Sadly, that's still the cardinal rule being taught here."