The trend of teenagers having unprotected sex has made multiple headlines in recent weeks. While researchers hope such findings will be a "catalyst" for action, having the ‘sex talk’ remains an ongoing battle in schools in Belgium.
Around a third of adolescents did not use condoms during their last sexual intercourse, according to a recent Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) report.
In Belgium, this was the case for around a quarter of 15-year-olds, according to the latest HBSC data. Additionally, the study noted a general increase in sexual intercourse without the use of condoms and the contraceptive pill.
While Belgium ranks 4th in Europe for its contraception access and information policies, schools are still often a battlefield when it comes to implementing comprehensive sexual education.
Sex (ed) on fire
As is customary in Belgium, policies on sexual education vary as educational matters are managed by different communities – Francophone and Dutch-speaking.
Last year, a cooperation agreement and policy changes to strengthen sexual education within the French-speaking system were met with protests, arson, and vandalism. Among the concerns of the opposing voices were the "hypersexualisation" of children and religious objections – while education authorities insisted that the issue was at the centre of an online scaremongering campaign.
While the situation has since "calmed down", actions against the French sexual health programme, EVRAS, continue. "Several legal actions are currently underway in Belgian courts against the EVRAS guide or even the cooperation agreement itself," said Alice Gaspar, a project manager at Sofélia, Wallonia-Brussels family planning centres federation.
The destroyed facade after a fire, linked to anti-EVRAS actions, at the Ecole des Cites, in Charleroi, in September 2023. Credit: Belga/Mathieu Colinet
According to Gaspar, the opposition is often backed by conservative groups concerned with the "LGBTQIA+ lobby" and "gender theory". For the Flemish-speaking schools, conservative voices and misconceptions are similar challenges.
"Sometimes conservative parents want to keep their children out of the sexual education classes because they don't agree or they have a wrong idea about what's being taught," said Wannes Magits, the Policy officer for sexual development at the Flemish sexual health organisation, Sensoa.
Magits further notes that the increased ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity in classrooms can make lessons about such sensitive topics difficult to navigate for some teachers.
Up to schools
Although the Flemish Government has set curriculum goals for educational institutions, these are relatively vague. "Schools are left with a lot of choice about which topics they want to teach and at what age. A few things are mandated, but they have a lot of freedom," explained Magits.
Similarly, despite the guidelines for EVRAS classes, "each session is unique as it is based on the questions and needs of the students," according to Sofélia's Gaspar.
For Magits, though tailoring sessions to students' queries is beneficial, it raises another issue: the lack of monitoring. "It’s unclear how [a school inspector] will measure if sexual education is being given, what’s the quality of the lessons, and which topics are being addressed."
Credit: Belga
When questioned if investments would be made to monitor sex education classes, a spokesperson for the Flemish Minister of Education declined to comment while government negotiations are still ongoing.
In the case of EVRAS, even though all stakeholders should discuss the success and obstacles of their classes, this is not always the case. "There is still a lack of coordination between the different administrations and funding authorities to have a clear overview of all EVRAS sessions," said Gaspar, while emphasising that Sofélia is hopeful this will be established soon.
The ‘crux’ of the matter
In some cases, issues regarding access to sexual health education are not just faced by students but also by those teaching it. "It's not being brought up in teacher education, so pre-service teachers do not get a lot of knowledge and skills regarding sexual education," said Magits. Both Gaspar and Magits think access to sex ed training should be expanded to more professionals and educational teams.
Nonetheless, the Sofélia project manager states that the "crux of the matter" of improving sexual health education is funding. "It is important that the current legislature at least maintains the unlocked amounts but [also] aims to increase them."
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In spite of all the hurdles, sexual health organisations continue to carry out research, workshops, and initiatives to debunk misinformation, in the name of improved education. Within the school sector itself, Magits reiterates that motivation for some to take on the fight for sex education remains high: "We notice a few very motivated teachers that put in the extra work, that put in the extra hours on top of their lessons, to do something extra for their pupils."
The HBSC report included survey results from over 242,000 15-year-olds from 42 countries in Europe, Central Asia, and Canada. 3,128 responses came from the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium, and 1,511 from the French-speaking part.
The Brussels Times contacted the Ministry of Education for the German Community of Belgium for comment but it is yet to receive a response as of time of publication.
The report: Need for nuance
Despite the valid concerns over the HBSC's results, Magits emphasises that nuance is always needed when interpreting such data. For example, even if there are trends of reduced use of condoms, teens could still be having safe sex if they have previously been tested for STIs and use other methods of contraception, explained Magits.
Similarly, although the HBSC’s study found an increase in teens having sex without both condoms or the contraceptive pill, this could be due to the use of other methods of contraception, like an IUD. Though the researchers are aware of this possibility for some cases, for others they hypothesise it to be due to the "lack of education, skills or getting the knowledge from parents, teachers or GPs on appropriate form of contraception,” the lead author of the report, Dr András Költő, told The Brussels Times.
Dr Költő further reiterated that the study’s focus on 15-year-olds means that the numbers discussed are relatively low. Nonetheless, a recent Sensoa study further strengthened the findings of the report. The study found that only 32% of 16-19-year-olds in Flanders always use condoms during sexual intercourse.
The HBSC study is done in collaboration with the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. It is developed by HBSC national teams, which include researchers from multiple public health and academic institutes.
