French parents are taking an action before a UN Committee opposing the introduction of a new and mandatory sex education programme in French schools, saying that children should not be forced to take part in the lessons if parents object.
Advocacy group, the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ), say that making the new programme mandatory is a violation of parents’ fundamental rights and children’s privacy, and that they will ask the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to consider the and clear provisions of Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, through which they argue France “has committed itself to respecting the freedom of parents to give their children an education in accordance with their moral and religious convictions”.
The Article reads: “The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to choose for their children schools, other than those established by the public authorities, which conform to such minimum educational standards as may be laid down or approved by the State and to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.”
The ECLJ says that, since September 2025, the French Ministry of Education is requiring all public and private schools, from kindergarten to high school, to implement a program of ”education in emotional and relational life and sexuality” (éducation à la vie affective et relationnelle et à la sexualité – EVARS).
“The imposition of this program on all French educational institutions and all children—without the possibility of any exemption—is unacceptable, because education on emotional and relational life and sexuality is a private matter and therefore up to parents, not schools,” the advocacy group argues.
The new French sex education programme has been mandatory for all public and private school students since September 2025. The government says programmes have recently been revised or are in the process of being revised to better meet the current needs of pupils. These reforms include key programmes in essential areas such as education in emotional and relational life, moral and civic education, they say.
“French schools will introduce mandatory sex education classes covering topics such as consent, gender identity and online pornography from September, despite opposition from conservative groups,” France 24 previously reported.
The ECLJ says that the mandatory aspect of the new programme is “a violation of parents’ fundamental rights and children’s privacy” and that “together with Juristes pour l’enfance and other associations” they took action before the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
“On December 10, we submitted an Individual communication on behalf of parents whose case was dismissed by the French supreme administrative court, the Conseil d’État,” they said in a statement.
Outlining objections to the programme, they argue the lessons are too explicit, especially for children at a very young age.
““At this age [3, 4, 5 years old], we have to explain to them that it’s really nice to touch your body, that it feels really good…” These are the words of a schoolteacher, recently shared on social media[1], explaining what she actually teaches children during sex education classes in kindergarten. This is the reality of what thousands of teachers and third-party interveners are teaching and will teach to students in France, in public and private schools, aged 3 to 18,” the ECLJ said.
“This sex education program now imposes specific content to be covered in at least three mandatory lectures each year, with no exceptions nor exemptions possible. These courses, far from being limited to biology and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, aim to instill values and influence students’ behavior with a very clear doctrine: Gender is only a social construct, have all the sexual experiences you want, the only limit is your pleasure and the consent of the other person,” they added.
“In response, the association Juristes pour l’enfance (Lawyers for Children) and other associations defending the rights of parents and children, supported by hundreds of parents and thousands of petitioners, appealed to the Conseil d’État to request the suspension of this program. This court, now notoriously more concerned with pleasing the government than defending fundamental rights, dismissed the appeal in June 2025,” they said.
In June, the Conseil d’État (France’s supreme administrative court) ruled that “the school curriculum for education in emotional, relational and sexual life (EVARS) complies with the will of Parliament.”
“Indeed, under the law, the public service of education is required to provide information and teaching in that area, particularly to teach pupils to respect the equal dignity of human beings, combat discrimination and help prevent harm to the physical and mental integrity of people. The Conseil d’État also noted that the curriculum is adapted to each age and is based on concepts that result from the current state of science or law, which must be taught in a neutral and objective manner, without encouraging pupils to adopt any particular behaviour. On these grounds, the Conseil d’État dismissed the appeals requesting its annulment,” the court found.
But the ECLJ says it is “formally supporting one of these parents before the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the hope of forcing France to suspend this program or, at the very least, make it optional”.
“This appeal aims first and foremost to uphold a fundamental principle: the right of parents to provide their children with an education that is consistent with their moral, religious, and philosophical convictions. This program deals with societal and ethical issues where morality is at the forefront, and it aims to give students clear behavioral guidelines to permanently influence their behavior in their social, emotional, and sexual lives. This is the objective of the program, and parents have the fundamental right to choose whether or not to participate in it, based on their beliefs. The state does not have the right to impose its morals and values on students and their parents,” the centre argues.
“The second serious problem with the EVARS program is its implementation. Since the state knows that it contains a number of controversial points, parents are sidelined and prevented from being involved in its implementation. They do not have the right to know the exact content of the course or to challenge the choice of an outside person to teach sex education to their children,” they argue.
“This program actually aims to bypass parents, to challenge what students may have learned from them, to do everything possible to prevent parents from being involved in the delivery of these courses, and to allow no recourse against abuses by third-party contributors. One of the associations supporting this appeal, SOS Éducation, has already collected hundreds of testimonies of such incidents, and it is now common knowledge that many outside contributors take advantage of their right to intervene to convey ideas, comments, or teaching materials that exceed common decency and the program itself.”
“Finally, in the opinion of many specialists, this program completely disregards children’s privacy, as they are forced to talk about intimate matters in front of the whole class; their individual learning pace is not respected, as the age of puberty varies greatly and numerous scientific studies show that simply addressing issues of sexuality in the classroom is not necessarily effective to reduce sexual abuse in society.”
The advocacy group said that “In the United States, the Supreme Court delivered a powerful decision this year protecting parental rights, even in public schools. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld that parents were merely delegating their authority to a school, but that they had the right to withdraw their children from classes that are contrary to their morals and religion.”
“To get this decision, parents needed to fight the state of Maryland. That is what we all need to do, not just in France or in the U.S. To defend our beliefs and values and our right to transmit them to our children,” the ECLJ said.
“The individual communication filed with this Committee asks it to remind France of the simple and clear provisions of Article 13 of the Covenant, which it has a mandate to enforce.”
“Firstly, parents have the right to “ensure the religious and moral education of their children in accordance with their own convictions.” However, the EVARS program deals with eminently moral issues, such as abortion, contraception, homosexuality, transsexuality, sex change, etc., and makes moral judgments on these subjects that may be contrary to those of parents.”
“Secondly, parents have the freedom “to choose for their children schools, other than those established by the public authorities.” However, the EVARS program also applies to private schools “under contract” (i.e. partially publicly funded schools), which infringes on the right of parents to choose schools, other than those of the state. Private schools under contract must be able to maintain their own character and offer a different educational approach and teaching in line with the parents’ religion.”
“If the Committee accepts this request, France will have to justify the infringement of parents’ rights and may be forced to modify the terms of implementation of this program.”
Supporters of the new programme say that ‘focusing on consent from a very young age is key to combating rampant sexual abuse and advancing human rights’.