We hold the first “towards non-sexist education” session
The initiative, targeted at students between 7th and 12th grade, is voluntary and is meant to open spaces of dialogue and engagement, in order to spread awareness and initiate transformations in the sexist practices of the educational community.
Education has a fundamental role in the formation of a society free from discrimination, violence and gender stereotypes. Often, without being aware of it, gender inequalities and stereotypes are produced and reproduced in educational institutions.
We owe it to our children and young people to move forward without any further delay towards the development of education with a gender perspective, which promotes healthy relationships between men and women.
Within this framework, authorities from the Education Ministry and the Women and Gender Equity Ministry held the first “towards non-sexist education” session (www.educacionnosexista.mineduc.cl/) at the Guillermo Labarca Highschool in Santiago’s Quinta Normal municipality, for students from 7th to 12th grade. The session is a necessary space in our current times, and is designed to raise awareness and transform sexist practices in the educational community.
According to Women and Gender Equity Minister Carolina Orellana, three voluntary sessions will be held throughout the year, adopting a pedagogical and formative approach that focuses on the needs of diverse cultural groups. They seek to restore trust by offering support and acceptance to students, teachers and teaching assistants.
“A few decades ago, when students complained, the natural reaction was maybe to deny that there was a problem, suppress the complaint, and say that they were the students’ problems. What we’ve done as a government has been to tell students that we hear their concerns and anguish about the situations of violence that they’re experiencing, and that we won’t silence them. We’ll give all of them the tools so that we can improve these situations,” Minister Orellana explained.
She also stressed that these sessions “are voluntary, so no one is obliged to talk about anything they don’t want to. They’re very important, because they are about building that culture of respect and non-discrimination. We have a long way to go, to be able to say that we’re equal before the law, and that on a day-to-day basis we can effectively live free from discrimination and violence”.
It is important to emphasize that the session was designed in consultation with a working group made up of representatives from the three Education Undersecretary’s Offices, the Education Superintendency, the Education Quality Agency, the Curriculum and Assessment Unit (UCE), the Women and Gender Equity Ministry and the National Youth Institute (INJUV). Its structure and objectives were also discussed with key civil society stakeholders on gender issues and sexual dissidence.
Comprehensive Sex Education Law
Another point highlighted by the authorities is that these sessions will allow us to make progress alongside communities on what will be the future draft of the Comprehensive Sex Education Law that we will put before Congress this year.
In this regard, Education Minister Marco Antonio Ávila stated, “soon we must present a bill that would allow us to establish comprehensive sex education. This would allow us to make some fundamental changes, for example, in curricular subjects and school textbooks, so that our learning objectives don’t promote sexism”.
Minister Ávila recognized that “different bodies have evaluated our national curriculum, and they’ve detected practices, for example, in school texts, where the role of women is linked exclusively to domestic tasks (…) We also have to change the use of language in schools, which is often a reflection of what happens in society. We see it in the press, in adverts, and our mission is to ask how we can make that change effectively in school settings”.
Complaints about situations of a sexual nature
Between January 1 and April 12, 2022, the Education Superintendency received 124 complaints about situations of a sexual nature. While there was a drop of 39.1% in complaints about situations of a sexual nature between adults and infants and/or students compared to the 2018-2019 average, there was an increase of around 140% in complaints about situations of a sexual nature between students compared to the 2018-2019 average.