In brief
Starting in September, schools in France will officially implement a long-overdue sex education program that aims to educate students about consent, gender stereotypes, and sexual health. This initiative comes nearly 25 years after the French government first mandated sex education but never established a tangible curriculum or training for teachers.
Elisabeth Borne, France's education minister, announced the rollout of this critical curriculum, which aims to fill an educational gap that has existed for decades. "We have been waiting 25 years for this," expressed Sarah Durocher, the president of Le Planning Familial, which, alongside other advocacy groups, previously filed a lawsuit against the government in 2023 for its failure to comply with the law. The curriculum's creation was not without controversy, facing opposition from conservative quarters who labeled it as “ideological brainwashing.” More than 100 senators from the conservative party Les Républicains expressed their disapproval through a widely published op-ed.Despite the opposition, Borne emphasized the necessity of this educational reform, underscoring alarming statistics revealing that one child is sexually abused every three minutes in France, often by a family member. The education system's delay in providing essential information has left many young people to educate themselves through unreliable sources such as online pornography. The newly implemented curriculum is designed to empower students with knowledge and skills to foster healthier relationships and safe boundaries.
