Mandatory Sex Education in France: ECLJ Takes Action at the United Nations for Parents' Rights

In France, this school year is marked by the implementation of a new sex education program, imposed on all public and private schools, from kindergarten to high school.

We have studied it carefully, and the reality is undeniable: the content of this program is scandalous.

It is not simply a neutral and benevolent introduction to emotional life designed to improve children's health. It is a program that promotes early sexuality, encouraging children to engage in all kinds of experiences, including “gender questioning,” and making consent and desire the only moral principles to be respected.

It forces children to talk about their intimacy, to address issues of puberty and sexuality long before they are confronted with them, and teaches children all the pro-abortion feminist stereotypes against men, marriage, pregnancy, etc.

The sex-education program, known as "EVARS" in French (Éduquer à la Vie Affective et Relationnelle et à la Sexualité - Educating for Emotional and Relational Life and Sexuality), is mandatory, with concepts to be acquired, and is subject to evaluation. Yet, evaluation means right or wrong answers. The normative nature of this program is therefore undeniable: it aims to normalize early sexual relations in all their forms.

The French government has chosen to impose this program on all schools in defiance of the fundamental right of parents, as primary educators, to give their children an education in accordance with their religious and philosophical beliefs.

Even private schools under contract with the State are required to implement this sexuality education program; Parents cannot obtain an exemption from these classes for their children and have no right to know what teaching materials will be used, nor the specific content or dates of the classes.

This is unacceptable and contrary to the natural rights of parents, which are guaranteed under international law.

That is why the ECLJ is referring the matter to a United Nations committee: the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which is responsible for enforcing an international covenant that obliges states "to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to choose for their children schools, other than those established by the public authorities . . . and to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions."

Juristes pour l'Enfance (Lawyers for Children), along with other French associations and hundreds of parents, had appealed to the Conseil d'État Council of State to cancel this program before it was implemented. This court, which is increasingly under the influence of the ”left," failed to fulfill its duty and approved the sex-education program.

Faced with this denial of rights, the ECLJ will bring the request of these associations to the UN to ensure that the morals and rights of parents are respected.

We need your support to get a strong response from this Committee. Sign and share this petition now to support this international appeal.