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The State of Sex-Ed in Canada

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The State of Sex-Ed in Canada The State of Sex-ed in Canada #SexEdSavesLives The State of Sex-Ed in Canada Contents 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3 ABOUT ACTION CANADA FOR SEXUAL HEALTH AND RIGHTS 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 INTRODUCTION 6 WHAT IS COMPREHENSIVE SEXUALITY EDUCATION? 11 HOW’S SEX-ED IN CANADA? 50 WHO TEACHES SEX-ED? 64 YOUNG PEOPLE’S EXPERIENCES OF SEX-ED IN CANADA 77 THE IMPACTS OF SUB-STANDARD SEX-ED 2 #SexEdSavesLives The State of Sex-Ed in Canada Acknowledgements Beyond the Action Canada staff team who came together Cindy Pétrieux, feminist activist, co-coordinator and leveraged each other’s strengths to produce this at the Fédération du Québec pour le Planning des resource, this project would not have been possible Naissances (FQPN) and founder of Quebec’s Coalition for without the contributions of: Sexuality Education. Natalya Mason (Harris Scholarship recipient 2018), BA, Julie Descheneaux, PhD student in sexology at the BSW, RSW, registered social worker and sexual health University of Quebec in Montreal and researcher in educator from Treaty Six Territory. sexuality education. Em Osborne (Harris Scholarship recipient 2018), MA in Charlie Dazé, practicum student 2020, Human Rights and Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies Social Justice bachelors’ program at Carleton University. in Education at the University of Toronto. Action Canada’s National Youth Advisory Board (Nafisa Meg Saxby (Harris Scholarship recipient 2016), MSW, Rahman, Miranda Pring, Faith Greva, Dhruhi Shah, Alice Laurier University. Gauntley and Topaza Yu). Nicole Tainsh (Action Canada intern 2018), MA in And last but not least, our colleagues in sexual health International Development and Globalization, Community centres across the country, the teachers who shared their Development Coordinator at the Canadian Mental Health experiences with us, and, most importantly, all the young Association, Board of Directors Saskatoon Sexual Health. people who opened their hearts and trusted us with their experiences and vision for better sex-ed in Canada. Julie Robillard, Co-coordinator at the Fédération du Québec pour le Planning des Naissances (FQPN) and spokesperson for Quebec’s Coalition for Sexuality Education. About Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights Action Canada for Sexual Health & Rights is a progressive, sexuality and reproduction by directly providing support, pro-choice organization committed to advancing and referrals, and information; working with other groups upholding sexual and reproductive health and rights in and organizations on a range of campaigns using a Canada and globally. collaborative, movement-building approach; and policy advocacy related to sexual and reproductive rights, Action Canada works within Canada and globally including abortion access, gender, LGBTQI2S+ rights, to promote health, well-being, and rights related to comprehensive sexuality education, and more. 3 #SexEdSavesLives The State of Sex-Ed in Canada Executive Summary This report presents information on comprehensive To start a deeper national conversation, Action Canada sexuality education (CSE)—what it is, why it matters, and reviewed and analyzed all provincial and territorial why it is a human right. In this report, Action Canada sex-ed curricula. With support from local partner presents findings on the state of sex-ed across Canada and organizations, Action Canada also hosted consultations to the ongoing impacts of sub-standard sex-ed. This report speak to young people about their sex-ed in Saskatoon, demonstrates why, as signatory to human rights treaties, Fredericton and surrounding area, Kitchener/Waterloo, Canada must exercise federal leadership on sex-ed to Ottawa, and Toronto. Our team also spoke with teachers uphold the human rights of all young people across and sexual health educators from different communities the country. to better understand the context in which they have to do their work. Additional roundtables have been planned There is little information available to tell us about the for other parts of the country to keep pace with changing state of sex-ed in Canada. What are students actually contexts and to better understand what is taking place in learning? How different is it from province to province? Canadian classrooms. What does each curriculum contain? Who teaches sex-ed— and how often is it taught? What kind of support do This report presents an overview of the evidence that teachers and educators receive? How is Canada doing in supports the delivery of comprehensive sex-ed and a relation to national and international standards? compilation of anecdotal analyses from young people and educators in communities across the country speaking This lack of information makes it difficult to have a clear to their experiences teaching and receiving sex-ed. It sense of the sex-ed young people receive in classrooms illustrates the need for leadership across sectors and across the country. The information gaps make it communities to make CSE that reflects contemporary life a challenging to evaluate the outcomes, and it creates reality, and it shows us how #SexEdSavesLives. barriers to ensuring all young people have quality sex-ed and demanding governments step up when Note: context can change quickly but the intention of this sex-ed is subpar. report is to provide sex-ed advocates with conversation starters, information, and tools to demand better sex-ed for everyone in Canada. [My] sex-ed didn’t talk about actual sex at all, but it talked about why we shouldn’t have sex before marriage. 16-year-old from Fredericton, New Brunswick 4 #SexEdSavesLives The State of Sex-Ed in Canada Introduction Right now, the quality of sex-ed young people receive more trainings or support, including from external sexual in Canada varies wildly. Provinces have different health educators. Young people in schools with limited sex-ed curricula which have all been updated at various resources, or where low priority is given to sex-ed, might times. There is no system in place to monitor delivery, not receive any sex-ed at all. Young people with teachers results, and needs. Educators receive little to no support who feel more capable to teach sex-ed may receive more to develop their ability to offer accurate, non-stigmatizing information than their peers in the classroom next door. and fulsome sex-ed to their students. Community-based In some cases, young people are receiving ideologically sexual health educators are stretched beyond capacity, driven, abstinence-based sex-ed that is misleading and offering support where they can. If lessons take place, inaccurate from their educators and/or third parties what is taught often overlook the needs and experiences of contracted by schools.2 many of the students, including those who are LGBTQI2S+, as well as the current realities in which young people navigate sexual decision-making today. In sum, the sex-ed most young people in Canada receive is: My sex-ed was a failure. I didn’t learn about body parts 1. Not meeting international standards and best practices and their proper names. I never learned about bad nor is it meeting our own 2019 Canadian Guidelines for touches and that people I know can hurt me, too. I never Sexuality Education; learned about what to do or who to tell if someone 2. Outdated; abused me. I never learned that I have a right to my 3. Not comprehensive; own body and a right to say no. I never learned it was 4. Not monitored or evaluated to ensure high-quality ok to have a different sexuality or gender identity. I delivery; and never learned about how to communicate and respect 5. Offered by educators who receive low to no support boundaries. I never learned how to support my friends or from provinces and educational systems and whose family if they experienced sexual or domestic violence. comfort levels are often low. I never learned how to respond to rejection. I never learned that sex shouldn’t or doesn’t have to hurt. I never As a student in Canada, receiving high-quality heard about reproductive control, like birth control and sex-ed depends on which province you live in, your school abortion. I was left to my own devices, many of which board, principal, and whether nearby health centres and were unreliable, biased, and inaccurate, in learning community groups can offer support. It also hinges on the about these topics. capacity, values, knowledge, and comfort of individual teachers and/or community-based educators.1 This 24-year-old from Calgary, Alberta means that young people in well-resourced schools and communities often have better access to accurate high- quality health information because teachers can access 1 When lacking the resources to hire professional sexual health educators or the tools to determine the professional competency of community organizations who offer to deliver sexual health education, many schools turns to Crisis Pregnancy Centres for the delivery of sex-ed in schools. Crisis Pregnancy Centres provide misleading, inaccurate, and harmful information. See: https://www.guttmacher.org/journals/psrh/2012/09/ public-health-risks-crisis-pregnancy-centres. 2 Snowdon, W. “Abortion, Holocaust comparison prompts calls for sex-ed investigation in Alberta”. CBC News, 11 Apr 2017. Available at: https://www. cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-sex-ed ucation-abortion-holocaust-1.4065411; and CBC News. “Edmonton school board drops abstinence- based sex-ed after complaint.” 11 July 2014. Available at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-school-board-drops-abstinence- based-sex-ed -after-complaint-1.2704291. 5 #SexEdSavesLives The State of Sex-Ed in Canada What is Comprehensive Sexuality Education? Not all sex-ed is created equal. Not everything that is WHY DOES SEX-ED MATTER? passed off as “sex-ed” would make the cut for being BECAUSE SCIENCE SAYS SO! called “comprehensive sexuality education.” Learning When sex-ed is done right, it can be life changing how to put a condom on a banana and calling it a day just for people and have significant positive impacts on doesn’t cut it! CSE has specific core principles, goals, and public health.
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