The campaign aims to amplify the voices of young people and their families to increase awareness and support to CSE globally.
During the 67th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) held in New York last month, Fòs Feminista and its partners lauched “Families for CSE” to rally young people and their parents around the world to support comprehensive sexuality education.
The theme for CSW67 is Innovation and Technological Change and Education in the Digital Age for Achieving Gender Equality and the Empowerment of all Women and Girls. CSE has been and still is one of the main tools for achieving gender equality and empowerment, but it goes way beyond those two benefits as the new UN Compendium on Comprehensive Sexuality Education explains.
Furthermore, the upcoming 56th Session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) has prioritized population, education, and sustainable development this year. CSE plays a critical role in achieving these objectives by empowering young people with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.
Women, girls, and gender-diverse people are often left out of any formal CSE. In many countries in the world, instead of improving access to CSE, there are attacks from anti-rights movements to any sexuality-related content in schools. It is time to stand up and make governments around the world know that young people and their families want to have more information and skills that help them make informed decisions about their lives.
“We never got comprehensive sexuality education in our school. If I had these skills, I would be completely different. The CSE training I didn’t have as a child, I want for my kids” says Maria’s mother, a young volunteer from one of our partner organizations in Argentina.
Families play a crucial role in ensuring that young people receive CSE and are equipped with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. But often, parents do not have the correct information to share with their children. Therefore, the role of CSE in schools and through community settings is very relevant.
“I encourage families to support young people’s access to CSE because in this way they would be providing their children with an opportunity to form their judgement regarding their bodies and sexualities” said Xavier, father of Laura, one of our volunteers from Ecuador.
Join Fòs Feminista and partners from around the world in support of CSE. Let’s counteract the anti-choice groups by telling the truth: young people, their parents, guardians, and families want Comprehensive Sexuality Education.
You can find more materials on our social media channels: Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
