Demonstrators protest against the Evras leader in front of the Walloon Parliament in Brussels, September 7, 2023. ERIC LALMAND / AFP
“Don’t touch our children!” » To these calls, 1,500 people demonstrated in the center of Brussels on Sunday, September 17th, to protest against a two-hour school activity per year on “education in relationship, emotional and sexual life” (Evras). to protest supported by the EU French-speaking Education Minister Caroline Désir (Socialist Party) aimed primarily at pre-adolescents and adolescents and her draft decree was adopted on September 7th.
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In Belgium, where love education has been mandatory since July 2012, this program aims to promote “respect for others”, “equality” and “prevent violence in romantic relationships”; to “deconstruct sexist and homophobic stereotypes,” “prevent unplanned pregnancies,” and ultimately “reduce sexually transmitted infections.” As Le Soir explains, it is a “school public health tool.”
However, this awareness program is the subject of numerous misunderstandings, misinformation and infamous conspiracy theories, particularly in Catholic and Muslim communities, which are prone to conspiracy theories. They see it as a project of sexualization of children or even institutional pedophilia. On September 7, La Libre mentioned the circulation of a false email that misrepresented the objective of Evras’ animations. Since then, eight schools have been burned or destroyed.
Scandalous videos on social networks
Around September 8th, the hidden statement of the man presenting himself as a scandalized father caused a huge uproar on TikTok. The man recounts a story that his son allegedly told him: “The teachers asked him to touch the penis [d’une] little girl “. Statements without any context that cannot be verified. “We have pedophiles in our schools,” he protests. According to his story, the principal justified the incident with “the law” and “the new texts”. He concludes his video explaining that he had sold his house and second car to move to Spain because “there is only France.” that it exists” (sic).
As many Internet users have noted, the testimony contains numerous inconsistencies and approximations, starting from the fact that this awareness program concerns Belgium and not France and that nowhere is there any mention of the performance of any sexual gesture: it is just a matter of dialogue.
Another viral video, among many others, that of a certain “Nadou G, the lioness” with an openly conspiratorial profile, who on September 9 expressed his concern about the “free access to pedophilia in schools” and stated that ” they want to do it.” Our children are trans.” In fact, the Evras guide only aims to combat transphobia by raising awareness of the issue of gender identity. “We will of course neither promote the hypersexualization of young people nor create a sexual orientation or gender identity,” recalled the French-speaking education minister. It is based on an indicative guide of three hundred pages, of which only certain points are intended to be addressed depending on the profile of the class and the questions of the students.
Fantasy petitions against Evras
At the same time, several petitions were created. An initial letter posted online on September 11 and signed by 13,000 people calls on French Education Minister Gabriel Attal to “respond to and withdraw his EVRA law” (sic). An inappropriate project, to say the least. However, as Libération points out, it is not a law and Evras does not concern France: Gabriel Attal therefore has little to do with the issue.
A second petition appeared on the Les Lignes Bougent website around September 13th. “The S in EVRAS means that our children are informed about the possibilities of individual and group sex, MASTURBATION, at school from the age of 5 and exposed to pornography from the age of 9… THROUGH EXTERNAL EMPLOYEES this is very serious.” “We absolutely have to counteract this,” it reads. On X (ex-Twitter), rapper Roff Share the petition to its 800,000 subscribers and asked them to sign it to prevent “your children, your 5-year-old nephews and nieces from being taught to masturbate and penetration and pornography at 9 years old.” Within a few days, 25,000 signatories, mostly mothers, gathered.
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As the Belgian site RTL reminds us, the rapper is misinformed: This two-hour school animation is not aimed at 5- and 9-year-olds, but at sixth primary school grades (corresponding to fifth grade in the French education system, i.e. children aged 12 and over). ) and fourth secondary education (equivalent to the second, i.e. 15 years). The Evras guide plans to address the topic of masturbation only with 12- to 14-year-olds and not with 5-year-olds. “I read that we wanted to “teach children to masturbate.” “It is completely unacceptable to scare parents on this issue,” said Belgian Minister Caroline Désir.
As for pornography, when discussed with 9-11 year olds, this is a response to reality: according to a Luxembourg study, 19.4% of 10-11 year olds have seen pornographic content on the Internet at least once. It’s not so much about introducing them to it, but rather about assessing and “developing” its “positive and negative influence”. [le] critical sense”. In addition, if it ultimately offers situations adapted to larger age groups, “the activities should begin with students’ questions,” says the official website. So it’s not about imposing topics, but rather responding to the spontaneous questions of children and young people.
Mobilization of fundamentalist and conspiratorial circles
The topic is taken up by a network of activist networks. Some oppose Evras for political or religious reasons: Conservatives do not want certain progressive issues, such as questions of sexual orientation or gender identity, to be covered in schools. But others go beyond the simple framework of societal disagreement and spread an openly conspiratorial vision of the sex education guide and accuse it of serving pedophile interests, a conspiracy antiphon that has been popularized in recent years by the QAnon network and the release of the film Sound of Freedom was revived.
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An RTBF investigation uncovered a network of 25 people and identities “active in disinformation around Evras”, divided into five families: supporters of pedo-criminal theories (such as Karl Zéro), defenders of childhood (Innocence in Danger, Belgium) , Covid skeptics (B. Bon Sens Belgium), conspiratorial media (Kairos etc.) and ultra-conservative religious groups (Civitas Belgium etc.).
The latter, present at the anti-Evras demonstration on September 17 in Brussels, therefore fantastically denounced “the use of a global plan promoted by the WHO to introduce a “new sexual world order””.
Several precedents in France
Although it is rare for it to be so widespread, misinformation about sex education courses is not uncommon. In 2018, an alarming publication claimed that a national educational circular in France intended to address sexual problems in 5-year-old children. In reality it was a Swiss report on childhood sexuality.
Likewise, the Schiappa law of August 3, 2018, which introduces the presumption of non-consent for sexual relationships with minors under 15 years of age, was accused of “legalization” contrary to all evidence[r] Pedophilia.
A school circular that expanded sex education classes to include the concept of consent was also described by right-wing extremists as a “sex curriculum” period that serves the interests of pedophiles.