This oral statement was submitted to the 58th Session of the Human Rights Council Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on Education. Click here to watch the statement.
Distinguished Special Rapporteur (SR) on the Right to Education,
I am Shiwa Karmacharya and I am making this statement on behalf of the Asian Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW).
We welcome your report on the right to be safe in education. Safety, as defined in the report, encompasses not only protection from physical harm but also psycho-emotional, social, and digital integrity.
We are especially concerned about restrictions imposed on the implementation of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) in some of the countries in Asia-Pacific, often citing ideological grounds. The exclusion of CSE from curricula undermines psycho-emotional and social safety, reinforces harmful gender norms, and denies learners the tools they need to protect their rights and make informed decisions about their well-being.
The right to be safe in education cannot be fully realized unless learners are empowered with knowledge about their bodies, rights, consent, and healthy relationships.
We therefore call on the attention of our esteemed Special Rapporteur and all Member States to:
- Recognize and integrate CSE as an essential component of the right to be safe in education
- Ensure CSE is accessible to all adolescents, including those in informal and non-traditional education settings
- Eliminate laws and policies that restrict or ban CSE, and instead, align national curricula with evidence-based, human rights affirming standards
- Train educators and staff to deliver CSE effectively and respectfully, and to respond to disclosures of abuse with care and accountability
Thank You!
