Statutory sex and relationships education not the answer to sexual harassment and sexual violence

Dec 6, 2016 by

from Family Education Trust:

In its report on sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools, published on 13 September 2016, the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee predictably recommended that sex and relationships education should be made a statutory subject in all schools, alongside Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE). In response, Family Education Trust issued the following press release.

The deep-seated cultural and social factors that lie behind sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools will not be solved by putting sex and relationships education (SRE) on the national curriculum, according to national family charity, Family Education Trust.

Responding to today’s report from the Women and Equalities Committee, Family Education Trust director, Norman Wells, commented:

‘The rise in the incidence of sexual harassment and sexual violence must be seen in the context of a highly sexualised culture in which we have made an idol of sexual pleasure. As a society, we have tended to view sex as a casual recreational activity rather than as an expression of total, lifelong commitment. And all too often, sex and relationships education in schools is contributing to the problem. Young people are being given the impression that sexual urges and impulses cannot be controlled and must be expressed.

‘It is important to maintain a sense of proportion. Sexual harassment and sexual violence do not feature in all schools, and where they are present they do not occur in every school to the same degree. This is therefore primarily an issue to be addressed by school communities at the local level rather than by central government.’

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