SUMMARY

• The current RSE curriculum for Northern Ireland is entirely inappropriate for children. The contents should only be part of life skills that are taught within a safe, family setting

• RSE lessons remove the parent as guardian, and gives that position of trust to a 3rd party

• Across Northern Ireland, many primary and secondary schools are already teaching dangerous gender ideologies and immoral practices, which can cause great mental and physical harm to easily influenced children

• The latest changes to the RSE curriculum are currently aimed at secondary school level (adolescents)

• The NIHRC and CEDAW reports both recommend a broader, mandatory RSE curriculum at primary and secondary levels

• The Department of Education consultation for schools and parents is now available to respond and we would encourage everyone to do so. It will last until 17:00 on 24th November 2023. Advice on filling in the consultation is available here.

• The Secretary of State wants an expansion of the RSE curriculum to include abortion and be taught in the new school year of 2023/2024 at secondary schools, so it will likely be June 2024 or later when these new classes will take place

• The current legislation is for secondary school ages only, but as has been reported to us recently, gender ideology is already being taught in many primary schools in Northern Ireland

• The NIHRC Report is entirely devoid of any moral compass, criticizing schools for promoting abstinence and the value of a human life, and using pejorative terms which reflect their contempt for anything that promotes heteronormativity

• New policies will override the values of the school or parent, putting in place the teaching of RSE according to the government's ethos, in the name of the child's rights

The BBC covered, in detail, the topics covered by the RSE curriculum for Northern Ireland in a recent news report published 6th May 2023. Secondary Schools topics to include:

• Consent to sex

• Pornography

• Sexually Transmitted Diseases

• Contraception

• Abortion services

• Menstrual well-being

• Transgender or gender-questioning children

• Gender Identity

• Male Privilege and misogyny

• LGBTQ+

Primary School Topics to include:

• LGBTQ+

• Transgender or gender-questioning children

• Gender Identity

On 6 March 2018, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) published the CEDAW Report.

Here are two of the "criticisms" in the report...

"Section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Act 2019 (“the NIEF Act”), places me under a legal duty to ensure that the recommendations in paragraphs 85 and 86 of the 2018 Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (“the CEDAW Report”) are implemented in full.

I have today laid Regulations in Parliament to implement the CEDAW recommendation to “make age-appropriate, comprehensive and scientifically accurate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights, a compulsory component of curriculum for adolescents, covering prevention of early pregnancy and access to abortion in Northern Ireland, and monitor its implementation”. The Regulations will mirror the approach taken in England with regard to education about the prevention of early pregnancy and access to abortion. This is provided for in Regulation 2(2)."

85. The Committee recommends that the State party urgently:

(a) Repeal sections 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Person Act, 1861, so that no criminal charges can be brought against women and girls who undergo abortion or against qualified health-care professionals and all others who provide and assist in the abortion;

(b) Adopt legislation to provide for expanded grounds to legalize abortion at least in the following cases:

(i) Threat to the pregnant woman’s physical or mental health, without conditionality of “long-term or permanent” effects;

(ii) Rape and incest;

(iii) Severe fetal impairment, including fatal fetal abnormality, without perpetuating stereotypes towards persons with disabilities and ensuring appropriate and ongoing support, social and financial, for women who decide to carry such pregnancies to term;

(c) Introduce, as an interim measure, a moratorium on the application of criminal laws concerning abortion and cease all related arrests, investigations and criminal prosecutions, including of women seeking post-abortion care and health-care professionals;

(d) Adopt evidence-based protocols for health-care professionals on providing legal abortions particularly on the grounds of physical and mental health and ensure continuous training on the protocols;

(e) Establish a mechanism to advance women’s rights, including through monitoring authorities’ compliance with international standards concerning access to sexual and reproductive health, including access to safe abortions, and ensure enhanced coordination between the mechanism with the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission;

(f) Strengthen existing data-collection systems and data sharing between the Department and the police to address the phenomenon of self-induced abortion.

B. Sexual and reproductive health rights and services

86. The Committee recommends that the State party:

(a) Provide non-biased, scientifically sound and rights-based counselling and information on sexual and reproductive health services, including on all methods of contraception and access to abortion;

(b) Ensure the accessibility and affordability of sexual and reproductive health services and products, including on safe and modern contraception, including oral, emergency, long-term and permanent forms of contraception, and adopt a protocol to facilitate access at pharmacies, clinics and hospitals;

(c) Provide women with access to high-quality abortion and post-abortion care in all public health facilities and adopt guidance on doctor-patient confidentiality in that area;

(d) Make age-appropriate, comprehensive and scientifically accurate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights a compulsory component of curriculum for adolescents, covering prevention of early pregnancy and access to abortion, and monitor its implementation;

(e) Intensify awareness-raising campaigns on sexual and reproductive health rights and services, including on access to modern contraception;

(f) Adopt a strategy to combat gender-based stereotypes regarding women’s primary role as mothers;

(g) Protect women from harassment by anti-abortion protesters by investigating complaints and prosecuting and punishing perpetrators.

"The CEDAW Committee’s recommendation has been uniquely incorporated into UK law. This placed a specific obligation on the Secretary of State for NI to implement the recommendation. The Commission therefore is responding to a decision of Parliament and an obligation on the UK Government.

The Commission’s investigation to assess the implementation of the CEDAW recommendation took place between October 2021- January 2023.

The report makes 13 recommendations (page 70-81) designed to provide practical guidance for schools and public authorities in complying with the CEDAW recommendation." Source

The list of referenced documents are extensive in drawing up this report and are shown in the video presentation highlighted below.

On the list, is the UNESCO International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education which we have detailed on the RSE Exposed page.