Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe

The WHO European Region faces many challenges with regard to sexual health: rising rates of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI), unintended teenage pregnancies and sexual violence, to name just a few. Children and young people are crucial to the improvement of sexual health in general. They need to know about sexuality in terms of both risk and enrichment, in order to develop a positive and responsible attitude towards it. In this way, they will be enabled to behave responsibly not only towards themselves, but also towards others in the societies they live in. This document has been developed as a response to the need for sexuality education standards that has recently become apparent in the WHO European Region, which comprises 53 countries, covering a vast geographical region from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. Most Western European countries now have national guidelines or minimum standards for sexuality education, but no attempt has been made to recommend standards at the European Region or EU level. This document is intended as a first step in filling this gap for the entire WHO European Region.