A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #362 - Antipatriarchy - Emotional, Relationship, and Sexual Education: Reactionary Attacks Against the EVARS Program (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

It took 24 years for the 2001 law establishing three sex education 
sessions per year for every student throughout their schooling to 
finally be implemented. ---- At the end of January 2025, the Higher 
Council of Education issued a favorable opinion on the EVARS program. 
According to the majority opinion of the national education unions, this 
program offers content appropriate to the age of the students[1]. It 
ranges from learning about the body and emotions, and protecting one's 
privacy, to sexual health, the concept of consent, and risk prevention 
for older students. Issues of self-esteem, relationships with others, 
acceptance of difference, as well as the deconstruction of stereotypes 
and toxic patterns, are addressed. Topics related to gender identity, 
homophobia, and transphobia are included in the curriculum, but 
sometimes late. LGBTIphobia, for example, only appears in the final year 
of high school.

160,000 children are victims of sexual violence per year
For those who wish to build a vision for an egalitarian and emancipatory 
society, this curriculum is a minimum and a prerequisite, particularly 
because it also provides a necessary tool for preventing violence and 
identifying incest. According to CIVIISE, 1 in 10 children (from a very 
young age) is a victim of sexual violence, and this violence is not only 
underestimated, but also constantly increasing[2]. There is an urgent 
need to protect children, especially when it is proven that the primary 
site for the practice and reproduction of this violence is the family.

All reactionaries, from the right to the far right, are mobilizing 
against these programs, perpetuating confusion and lies about a 
fantasized threat posed by LGBTI people and "wokeists" who allegedly 
attempt to corrupt children and young people. Blinded by their hatred 
and the fear of losing their control over their families and children, 
obsessed with "traditional family values," they neglect the need to 
protect minors from sexist and sexual violence, to provide them with 
tools to understand their emotions, their bodies, and their intimacy.

Teachers are facing threats and intimidation, sometimes directly in 
their schools or on social media. Behind the scenes are groups 
presenting themselves as "non-denominational, non-partisan" 
parent-teacher groups or as associations "working completely 
independently" for the protection of children. In reality, these are 
reactionaries, confusionists, close to the far right and conspiracy 
theorists. Since the program's publication, hostile initiatives have 
multiplied: distribution of false leaflets, viral videos spreading 
misinformation on social media, pressure from some parents to attend 
sessions or to withdraw their children from school during these 
sessions, and calls for specific mobilizations, such as those on 
February 7th in front of education authorities or on March 10th, urging 
parents not to send their children to classes[3].

Anne (UCL Montpellier)

SOME REACTIONARY GROUPS OPPOSED TO THE PROGRAM:
This inventory and many other projects were developed by the Montpellier 
Collective Against the Far Right.

Angry Parents is a group that presents itself as "collectives" working 
throughout France to fight against "all forms of discrimination, 
violence, and injustice, a fight for the future of all and the world we 
will leave to our children." Their current campaign is against EVARS, 
presented as a national poster and information campaign, with an action 
kit included.

Mamans Louves is an association created in November 2021 by Roxane 
Chafei, whose ties to the conspiracy world have been highlighted. 
Initially composed of parents opposed to wearing masks in schools and 
vaccination, which she considers to be violence against children, her 
fight has shifted to the right to homeschooling. Her call for a debate 
on measures affecting children actually conceals theories espoused in 
particular by a conservative far-right opposed to any state action in 
matters of health and education. Founded in 2001, SOS Education presents 
itself as "a militant association that brings together 50,000 parents 
and teachers working independently to ensure that schools transmit 
fundamental knowledge and a taste for excellence to each student." An 
association close to the extreme right and reactionary circles.
His credo: to call for donations through mass mailings, warning of the 
failings of the National Education system with a highly catastrophic 
message, on the theme: "Schools are going to die," the state is not 
doing its job properly, and is manipulating children. Their petition, 
"At school, teach me divisions, not ejaculation!", was signed by more 
than 70,000 people. A report on France Inter was dedicated to them: "The 
strange practices of SOS Education to collect donations exposed by the 
Court of Auditors."

In September 2022, Éric Zemmour launched the "Protect Our Children" 
movement, which has since given rise to the "Parents Vigilants" 
collective. This movement is an offensive against public education, "at 
the heart of the great indoctrination" of what the former presidential 
candidate calls "woke, anti-racist, or LGBT ideology." Eric Zemmour has 
urged his supporters to relentlessly denounce "the aberrations to which 
children are subjected" (leaflets and social media campaigns). At the 
start of the 2023 school year, he has invited his activists to 
infiltrate parent-teacher associations through his Parents Vigilant 
network. It's interesting to watch the RTBF report "Conspiracy 
theorists, the far right, and followers of pedocriminal theories: here 
is the network of disinformers on EVRAS in Belgium" and the France Info 
investigation: "Most colleagues self-censor: how 'Parents Vigilants' put 
pressure on teachers."

The National Organization for Ethics, Health, and Transparency (ONEST) 
presents itself as "a collective of child mental health and legal 
professionals concerned with their protection." Its representatives are 
Virginie de Araujo-Recchia (lawyer and president), Ariane Bilheran 
(psychologist, vice-president), and Laurence Kayser (physician, 
vice-president). All three have written in the field of conspiracy 
theories. Like all three of them, this association is under observation 
by Conspiracy Watch.

Ludivine de la Rochère is the president of the Family Union. Their areas 
of action are against surrogacy and the EVARS program, and they have 
initiated actions in front of education authorities. This article in Le 
Monde clearly shows their origins: "Ten years of marriage equality: what 
has become of the generation of activists born from opposition to the law?"

Confirm

[1]Refer to the detailed curricula (kindergarten, elementary, middle, 
and high school) on the Education.gouv.fr website.

[2]A great deal of data is currently being collected on these issues; 
others are still too slow to arrive. A current state of knowledge on the 
subject can be found on the websites of certain university hospitals, 
such as those in Montpellier: UAPED, CRIAVS, etc.

[3]These are the same types of practices as those used against the ABC 
of Equality with the school withdrawal days in 2014.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Education-a-la-vie-affective-relationnelle-et-sexuelle-Les-offensives
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