Sexuality education suffers from a big deficit in France. 25% of elementary schools do not provide the lessons, although they are compulsory.
- Adolescents have their first kiss, on average, at age 14. By the age of 17, half of them have already had sex.
- Despite the persistence of sexist stereotypes, access to contraception and condoms improves during first intercourse, in particular thanks to the distribution and reimbursement of the contraceptive pill.
- But ignorance persists: 84% of 13-year-old girls do not know how to represent the female sex but 53% know how to represent the male sex.
- In terms of acts also inequalities remain: one in five young girls has been the victim of cyberviolence, 7.5% victim of voyeurism, caresses or forced kisses at school.
At 15, one in four young girls does not know that she has a clitoris. In matters of anatomy and sexuality, young people suffer from a serious lack of knowledge. This deficit, in addition to promoting risky behavior, creates a favorable ground for preconceived ideas about men and women.
The High Council for Equality between Women and Men (HCEfh) took note of this and took up the matter. He handed this June 15 a full report to Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, Minister of National Education, Higher Education and Research, and Laurence Rossignol, Minister of Families, Children and Women’s Rights.
The objective is clear: sexuality education must meet the expectations of young people and serve as a basis for building an egalitarian society.
Inactive schools
The results of the High Council are hardly flattering for France. In French schools, sex education is “fragmented and unequal depending on the area”. In fact, while this module is compulsory, 25% of elementary schools do without it, as do 4% of colleges and 11% of high schools. “I am delighted that from 2016 the fight against sexual harassment will become, in the overall policy of public higher education and research establishments, an objective that will be evaluated”, declared the president of the HCEfh, Danielle Bousquet. when presenting the report. Because this is not the only parameter to be in the red.
Source : Survey carried out by the HCEfh for the report on 3,000 establishments
At school, sex education is often limited to the themes of anatomy and biology. We talk about biology and puberty, but also sexual equality. In middle and high school, these themes are abandoned in favor of respect, contraception and abortion as well as HIV prevention. Sexual violence, sexual orientation and the discrimination associated with it are, however, set aside.
Fuzzy and taboo information
Adolescence represents a period of life when inequalities and homophobic discrimination emerge. In fact, 7.5% of girls have been victims of voyeurism, hugging or forced kissing at school. And among young women under 20, one in ten claims to have been sexually assaulted. Gender equality messages and guidance must therefore be a priority target – too often overlooked. For the High Council, it is “urgent” to generalize quality sex education.
If the school has an obligation in this area, “it cannot do everything on its own,” admits the report. Families, media, sports clubs, are all stakeholders who must become more involved. The problem identified is clear: in the absence of adequate information, young people turn to “erroneous, moralistic or even sexist” content, whether on the Internet or in free-to-air broadcasts.
Radios certainly free, but where sexism reigns. On the family side, sexuality is often a taboo subject while the sources of information on the Internet are rarely reliable and poorly identified. Added to this is a context “polluted” by disinformation “anti-choice groups who want to prevent any talk and information on these topics”, comments the Family Planning.
The little-known sexuality of young people
Logical consequence of this poor knowledge from an early age, the stereotypes that emerge on the role of women and men. So many received ideas which “entail a cascade of consequences as numerous as they are dramatic”, recalled Danielle Bousquet. In addition to violence and loss of self-esteem – which affects girls more – boys can face failure at school when they have imposed “virilism above all” on themselves.
The High Council points out the problems and proposes solutions, 30 precisely. They revolve around 4 priority axes. The first is to better understand the sexuality of young people. “On this subject, the last national survey on the behaviors, practices, sources of information and representations of young people in matters of sexuality dates back more than 20 years”, Danielle Bousquet did not fail to emphasize. .
More means
The policies already initiated in the field of sexuality education should also be strengthened. The president of the HCefh therefore called for more allocated resources. “This cannot be the icing on the cake depending on individual goodwill,” she said. It will then be a question of organizing the visibility of the actions deployed, with a regular evaluation of the measures. Finally, the High Council asks extra-curricular spaces to take responsibility. “Let’s teach girls not to put themselves in danger, and especially let’s teach boys not to put them in danger,” insisted Danielle Bousquet.
Common sense proposals, and eagerly awaited by Family Planning, which welcomed a report that will serve as a common base for the organization of an interministerial plan. The objective: to lay the foundations for a favorable ground for a fulfilling sex life, whatever its orientation, in order to live it “without fear, without fear, without judgment, constraint or dependence”.
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