In 2019, the book “Respect – a sex book for guys”, written by the Swedish writer and sex informant Inti Chavez Perez, was published in Finland. The book then received good reviews and was selected in a reading promotion project where the book was distributed to all upper secondary schools in the country.
– The book was so well received. Now a few years later, it has become a storm, says Inti Chavez Perez.
After sexually explicit parts of the book were shared on social media, reactions have been provoked among politicians in Finland. In Finland, the Christian Democratic Member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen has expressed on X that the book is guilty of “sexual harassment of children” and urged parents to report it to the police.
The storm of criticism also reached the Minister of Education, who said that the content circulated on social media was not suitable for children.
Included in the list of books that can be censored
Now comes the decision from the Finnish Ministry of Education saying no to banning the book. The Minister of Education emphasizes that it is not the role of politicians to decide which books should be read in schools.
– I am happy because it is a victory for young people, for sexual education and for free speech. It’s nice that politicians dare to call a halt to this trend and to this attempt at censorship. It is often rather us cultural workers ourselves and librarians who usually have to take that battle, says author Inti Chavez Perez.
Even in the United States, the book has sparked debate when quotes from the book were noticed by Fox News. Republican Congressman Greg Steube put the book on his list of books with “radical gender theory and explicit sexual content” that children in federal schools must be protected from. Last summer, he got his bill passed in the House of Representatives.
– After all, there is an international trend where certain forces want to ban books, and especially books that have to do with sexuality or that make LGBTQ people visible. I have been drawn into that trend in different countries, says Inti Chavez Perez.
Sex education re-debated
The book was also banned in South Korea, but the ban was lifted in June this year after protests from human rights activists and the South Korean publisher that publishes the book. South Korea’s culture ministry’s ethics committee found the book to be in violation of the law in 70 places, but after just a month of the ban coming into force, it was overturned and a new statement was issued stating that the book is not harmful to the health or morals of young people.
– Politicians who are against sex education, free speech and the freedoms of young people can push the agenda in different ways. My book in this case was just a tool to try to create a mood in the country that sex education had gone too far. I think this is something that we in the public need to be a little more critical of what we see on social media, says Inti Chavez Perez.
He emphasizes that research has shown that sex education both strengthens young people’s health and gives them positive attitudes towards diversity.
– One thing research shows is that young people want to be taken seriously and want someone to reflect them and speak their language. Therefore, I have written a book based on that and that they should have a good education, says Inti Chavez Perez.