A small but vocal minority opposes extending sex education to all schools in Belgium. There is a lot of incorrect information and fake news about the content of education.
BRUSSELS The autumn of the Brussels-based family planning center has started with exceptionally busy signs.
The sex education organized by the centers for schools has fallen into the teeth of religious organizations and conservative families in an unprecedented way.
– We could not imagine that such a dispute would break out in 2023, the head of the center Lola Clavreul says to .
At the heart of the dispute is a law passed in the French-speaking parts of Belgium that obliges schools to offer at least two hours of sex education in the sixth grade of primary education (ages 10-11) and in the fourth grade of secondary education (ages 14-15).
Sexuality education has been mandatory in Wallonia, the southern half of Belgium, since 2012. The new law defines the minimum number of hours reserved for education and the content of the teaching.
– With older students we can talk about contraception, for example, but with younger students we talk more about themselves and what puberty entails, Clavreul describes.
Fake news incites suspicion
According to some parents, the reform of sex education goes too far. In Brussels, several protests against sex education, i.e. the Evras program, have been organized.
The protesters are united by concern about the content of the teaching, and the perception that the sexual education of young people does not belong to schools.
– It is a reaction to the liberation that has taken place in some areas of life, such as sex education, gender relations and sexual orientation, professor of social psychology at the ULB University of Brussels Olivier Klein says.
According to Klein, the protests in Belgium have similarities with France, where sexual education in schools has also fallen into the hands of extremists.
According to Klein, the Evras program was criticized by right-wing conservatives, Islamic organizations and people inclined to conspiracy theories. There is a lot of misinformation and fake news circulating.
– It is claimed that we show children porn or teach three-year-old children masturbation, which is of course not true, says Clavreul of the family planning center.
Clavreul resents fake news, which took a lot of time and energy to correct.
Politicians woke up to the arson
The campaign against sex education has also been linked to a series of arson attacks on schools in Belgium.
In the attacks that took place in the French-speaking Wallonia, school buildings were burned and littered with slogans against the Evras program.
The attacks have shocked Belgians and spawned a wide-ranging discussion about the backgrounds of the protests against sex education.
– Burning schools shows complete indifference towards the school institution. We must protect the status of schools as safe spaces, representing the parent organization of Belgian Catholic schools Bernard Hubie says.
According to Hubien, sexuality education plays an important role in Belgian schools. He reminds that a large majority of Belgians support the Evras program.
– It is necessary to be able to talk about sexuality in schools as well. The lack of information leads to worrying phenomena, such as an increase in teenage pregnancies, he states.
According to Lola Clavreul, the discussion around the Evras campaign tells about the increased polarization of Belgian society.
– On the other hand, we have people who are very progressive. Others, on the other hand, find it difficult to accept deviation from traditional norms. We also see that trust in society’s institutions is weaker as a result of the corona pandemic, he reflects.
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