Deputy minister rejects link between sex education and suicide
Sex education is a right of children and adolescents and the state has an obligation to provide it, Deputy Education Minister Domna Michailidou has told Parliament, rejecting claims from an opposition MP that the subject contributes to divorce, suicide and abortion.
Responding to calls to abolish the teaching of sex education in schools from the religious-fundamentalist Niki party, Michailidou said that “within the safe and protected environment of the classroom, and with access to correct and scientifically documented information and valid and scientifically appropriate educational material, students learn their rights over their bodies, by discussing issues that concern them.”
“In this way, respect and acceptance of the rights of others, gender equality and the ability to make decisions are cultivated,” she added.
Calling for sex education to be abolished, Niki MP Aspasia Kouroupaki said that Denmark and Sweden have seen “increased rates of divorce, suicide and abortion” since introducing sex education to the classroom in 1970 and 1955, respectively.
She said that for every thousand births in Sweden and Denmark there are 2,655 and 3,205 abortions, respectively, in Greece that figure is 302.
In reply, Michailidou requested Kouroupaki to submit to Parliament any academic study that correlates the rate of suicide in Sweden and Denmark with sex education classes.
