Safe, healthy and respectful partnerships are the basis of a child’s well-being. Comprehensive sexuality education supports children’s understanding of consent, bodily integrity and personal autonomy, boundaries and power dynamics. It helps them express their own emotions constructively, recognise and respond to different forms of violence, including sexual and technology-facilitated violence – online and offline, perpetrated by adults or by other children –, as well as access reporting and support services.
In its new recommendation, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers says that European governments should provide comprehensive sexuality education that is age-appropriate, inclusive and science-based. They should adopt the necessary legal or policy basis and allocate adequate financial, material and human resources to the provision of this education in all relevant educational settings, public or private, formal or non-formal. Exemptions to comprehensive sexuality education, in law or in practice, undermine the protection of children from various forms of violence. The recommendation is accompanied by an explanatory memorandum.
Technology has rendered children more vulnerable to violence
The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers notes with grave concern that children’s vulnerability to violence has increased because of rapid technological change. It is concerned by the ever-earlier exposure of children to pornographic content and child-sexual-abuse materials, which may serve as a primary source of information on sexuality, thereby fostering distorted perceptions of bodies and relationships.
The recommendation reflects the views of 245 children and young people aged from 9 to 22 from 12 countries, who were consulted during its preparation. The survey findings demonstrate that the current provision of sexuality education is often seen by children as limited, optional, biology-focused and insufficiently adapted to their age, while important issues such as consent, boundaries, violence prevention, diversity and online risks are not sufficiently addressed, in their view.
The children have called for sexuality education to begin early and evolve with age; to be based on reliable, science-based information; and to address relationships, emotions, consent, boundaries, sexual and online violence, diversity and how to seek help. The young respondents also emphasised the need for safe, non-judgmental settings and meaningful participation of children in developing the content of the courses.
Sexuality education must factor in societal context
The Committee of Ministers recommends providing children with information about the meaning of consent to and the legal age for sexual activities, information that some sexual activities will always be considered unlawful irrespective of the age of the victim or whether or not they have allegedly “consented”, for example when a person in a recognised position of trust and authority engages in such activities with a child. Curricula should take into account sociocultural norms and gender stereotypes.
The name given to comprehensive sexuality education by member states can vary to reflect the categories of children addressed, as well as local and cultural contexts and its age- and developmentally appropriate content.
Parents must be involved, children allowed to participate
The recommendation recognises that parents have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of their children and for their protection from violence. Prior to and following the introduction of comprehensive sexuality education in the curricula, parents and other holders of parental responsibility should be informed about its content, objectives and the potential providers; all forms of violence against children and how to recognise its signs; how to seek help, and which educational resources to use to respond in an age-appropriate way to children’s questions.
Teachers must be trained
The recommendation calls for trained educators, informed about the new ways in which violence against children can be perpetrated, including the risks of technology-facilitated violence. It also promotes children’s meaningful participation, support for civil society, and effective monitoring, evaluation and data collection.
The Committee of Ministers’ recommendation is grounded in the Council of Europe’s Lanzarote Convention to which all 46 member states are parties. The convention (Article 6) requires countries to provide children with information on the risks of sexual exploitation and abuse. It was preceded by a feasibility study on sexuality education carried out in 2024, a study on sexual violence and harmful sexual behaviour displayed by children and thematic guidance on safeguarding children from the risks of accessing online pornographic content.
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