Samoan community leader and Minister Reverend Uesifili Unasa believes church leaders and communities should be more proactive in promoting sex education following the news of the Samoan newborn baby boy who was abandoned by his mother and then found in a Sydney storm drain by members of the public. The news caused outrage across the Samoan community. It was revealed that the mother of the baby was a minister’s daughter prompting suggestions that “taboo” topics such as sex are still not being talked about openly in this day and age. Reverend Unasa says that the incident, which made national and international headlines, is not the first of its kind in the Samoan community. In 2009, a Samoan baby was found dumped in a litter bin in the bathroom of a Pacific Blue flight from Apia to Auckland. He says many factors can contribute to the decisions made by parents of abandoned babies. These may include family circumstances and pressure from family and peers. “It’s easy to take this as being a reflection of the reality of Samoan culture but I think in the context of it all, it’s a bit of everything. There’s the element of how we as Samoans are expected to behave or not to behave. “There are also elements of our culture which is of an authorative nature - the actual family hierarchy. For example the parents versus the children. Then there’s a church element: the father being the minister and the social expectations by a minister and their children.”Mr Unasa believes that there may also be some pressure on Samoan females and how they are expected to behave as Samoan women. He says that church leaders and communities have an important role to play in informing and educating their members and that initiatives such as incorporating sex education within church and youth group programmes should be considered.“I think the church is still operating in a very conservative mode and I don’t think that’s relevant anymore or appropriate. There is an issue around sexuality - an issue that the church doesn’t deal with very well. In fact, the church doesn’t deal with sexuality at all. It avoids the fact that sexuality is a part of our humanity. “Often churches moralise the good and the bad rather than saying that ‘this is part of who we are.’ The church needs to address what should be a healthy understanding of sexuality.” The 30-year-old mother of the abandoned baby boy in Sydney has since been charged for attempted murder.