couple
Schoolgirls given booklets with messages urging them to keep distant from boys to preserve their attraction. Getty Images

Schoolgirls in Australia were handed out booklets calling on them to keep a distance from men to preserve their attraction.

The booklets were handed out by a youth group, Epic Youth, linked with the CityLife Church during the regular school hours at the Fairhills High School in Knoxfield, Melbourne.

A message inside the booklet read, reported Herald Sun: "Here's a warning for girls! If a woman becomes physically close and hugs a guy for 20 seconds it will trigger the bonding process, creating a desire to be near him.

"Then if the guy wants to take the relationship further it will become harder for her to say no. So girls especially need to be aware of the powerful bonding effect of oxytocin.

"The inability to create this special chemical bond after having multiple sex partners is almost like tape that loses its stickiness after being applied and removed multiple times."

After several parents found the booklets inappropriate and called on the school to investigate, the educational programme was cancelled by school principal Russell Poulier.

Meanwhile, sex education experts, including Deanne Carson, have said the booklets could trigger sexual assault.

"It tells predators that some girls deserve to be raped depending on their clothing choices," said Carson.

"Sexuality education should teach facts, not pseudoscience that seeks only to control girls through shame.

"Religion-based purity programs feed into rape culture and reinforce the message that boys cannot be responsible for their sexual urges while girls are the gatekeepers to sex."