If we do not provide young people with quality sexuality education, the digital world will

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By: Joanna Herat, senior programme specialist for health and education at UNESCO, with expertise in comprehensive sexuality education, HIV, and school-related gender-based violence. Joanna is leading the team organizing the Switched On Symposium in Istanbul, Turkey, 19-21 February 2020, around sexuality education in the digital space.

Far too many young people grow up without quality comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), the sort that goes beyond the basics of sex and reproduction, to cover topics like relationships, gender equality, body image, and consent. While it’s hard to say how many people this affects, it’s fair to say that thousands, perhaps millions, of young people reach adulthood with confusing, conflicting and often negative messages about sexuality, exacerbated by embarrassed silence from adults.