Canada has an obligation to ensure human rights are upheld everywhere, including in the classroom!
Young people are getting inconsistent, sub-standard sex-ed across the country. The Government of Canada has an obligation to provide evidence-based, scientifically accurate, gender-sensitive, 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusive, and sex-positive sexuality education. It must ensure that provinces and territories do not roll back or restrict sex-ed that upholds the human rights of young people. It must do more to support educators’ capacity to deliver comprehensive sex-ed by engaging provinces and territories to fix the gaps in implementation and capacity.
WHAT CANADA CAN DO RIGHT NOW TO ENSURE ALL YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE ACCESS TO COMPREHENSIVE SEXUALITY EDUCATION:
- Launch a national strategy to equalize access to comprehensive sexuality education across provinces and territories (including a national awareness-raising campaign led by the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Department of Women and Gender Equality, and funds to ensure the full implementation of the Canadian Guidelines for Sexual Health Education).
- Allocate funds to the Public Health Agency of Canada to invest in the training of professional sexual health educators.
- Ensure the long-term funding of a comprehensive National Sexual Survey to ensure the monitoring of trends and the development of better policy and programming around sexual health, including sexual health education.