Last week, Italy’s senate passed the “Valditara bill,” a reform that could significantly restrict young people’s access to comprehensive sexuality education. The bill requires parents to provide consent before children can receive sexuality education in middle and high schools, and bans it entirely in elementary school.
Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara, who had championed the bill, said after the vote that the goal was to protect children from “the confusion of gender propaganda” and “give parents back a say on issues of gender identity” for their children. He said biological sex education will still be taught as part of science classes.
Comprehensive Sexuality Education is an essential part of children’s rights to information, health, and education, rights grounded in universal human rights standards, and which Italy has undertaken binding legal obligations to uphold. The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education emphasized that sexuality education “must be free of prejudices and stereotypes” and must protect all children from discrimination, including on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Unlike many European countries, sexuality education is not compulsory in schools in Italy. A 2025 survey by Save the Children and the polling firm, Ipsos, found that only 47 percent of Italian children had received sexuality education while 57 percent turned to the web to learn about sexually transmitted infections. The same survey found that 95 percent of parents considered school-based sex and relationship education useful and 91 percent of parents agree that it should be a compulsory subject.
Because sexuality education has never been mandatory, some schools already sought parental consent for some activities. The new reform imposes far stricter requirements: schools must notify parents of any sexuality education initiatives, disclose external speakers, and share teaching materials a week in advance for written consent, while also providing alternative activities for students who opt out. These administrative burdens risk discouraging schools from offering sexuality education altogether.
Comprehensive Sexuality Education equips young people with evidence-based information about their bodies, relationships, consent, and sexual and reproductive health; reduces sexual risk taking and the spread of STIs; promotes greater respect for human rights and gender equality; and can help prevent gender-based violence.
Young people have a right to information that keeps them safe, healthy, and empowered. Instead of creating new obstacles, Italy should take meaningful steps to guarantee that all students receive comprehensive, evidence-based sexuality education, including guidance on consent and respectful relationships.
