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Sex education and misinformation

The United Nations has called for combating misinformation on the comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) and the role of various UN agencies supporting the rollout of curriculum-based process of teaching and learning accurate and age-appropriate information for young people.

It said that age-appropriate sexuality education is a proven tool to address the challenges that hamper the country’s development pathway, including adolescent pregnancy, maternal mortality, HIV infection, and various forms of gender-based violence.

Research has shown that too many young people still make the transition from childhood to adulthood, receiving inaccurate or incomplete information about sexual and reproductive health, leaving them vulnerable to coercion, sexually transmitted infections, and unintended pregnancy.

Jose Roi Avena, deputy representative of the United Nations Population Fund to the Philippines, said CSE addresses a complex area of intersection between health, education, prevention, and social development, based on research, data, and analysis of social behaviors.

“In recent weeks, however, misinformation about CSE and the role of various United Nations agencies has circulated in the Philippines,” he added.

“The UN encourages all Filipinos to verify information they are exposed to,” Avena said.

“The UN shares accurate scientific knowledge and relevant lessons learned and good practices, which has been adapted by the Department of Education to be culturally sensitive and age-appropriate,” he stressed.

Sex and sex education remains a sensitive or taboo topic for many Filipinos, making it highly vulnerable to misinformation and being sensationalized, leading to various emotional and knee jerk reactions. If the international standards of the UN are too liberal for Filipino society, resorting to misinformation is not a mature way of handling the topic that needs to be handled as maturely as possible.

The need for proper or comprehensive sex education remains. Our government and its officials cannot put it aside just because of offended feelings and misinformation. The legislators who are crafting the law can surely come up with the necessary changes and fine tuning to make it work for everyone, especially the youth that need it most.*

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February 2025
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