(210) Breastfeeding: The Blind Spot in Sexuality Education, is it a Gender Bias?
Authors: Choucroun D 
Published: March 2024

Introduction

Sexuality is fundamental to people's well-being and involves all dimensions of existence: cognitive, emotional, physical and cultural dimensions. Media show conflicting and confusing informations and pictures about sexuality and sexuality education is more necessary than ever to provide accurate knowledge, to rule out false beliefs, to promote gender equality and to eradicate gender-based violence. The concept of sexual health was developed in 1974 and, 20 years later, the Cairo Conference enhanced it with the concept of reproductive health. Is gender equality possible in reproductive health? Gaps seem to persist, especially in sexuality education: the word breastfeeding seems to be absent from sexuality education programms.

Objective

`-Etablish an inventory of official recommendations and programs about sexuality education, in France, and at the international level -Review especially reproductive health education programs in France -In order to introduce in these programs the question of breastfeeding, physiological function of the breast, and raise awareness of lactational amenorrhea as an economical and ecological method of contraception, according to World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations - In order to teach about breastfeeding in the "International technical guidance on sexuality education" developed by UNESCO

Methods

Literature review with the key words breastfeeding in sex education for the last five years on PubMed and Google Scholar Study of the 139 pages of the "International technical guidance on sexuality education" developed by UNESCO Study of 26 official french texts about sex education since 11/1992 to 12/2022, Code de l'Education, legal texts, decrees and ciculars in France

Results

Breastfeeding and lactational amenorrhea as birthcontrol are missing in all the sex education programs examined in France and in the 139 pages of the"International technical guidance on sexuality education" developed by UNESCO No relevant study is found about breastfeeding and lactational amenorrhea birth control in sex education for the last five years on PubMed and Google Scholar These results confirm breastfeeding as the blind spot in sex education and raise the question of gender equality in reproductive health especially in reproductive health education: why ignore this singularity of the female body, while children can see breastfeeding persons, especially in their family? What to think of a person breastfeeding in a public place? What to think of a person who breastfeeds a child over the age of two? What to feel in front of the emission of milk that can occur during female orgasm? What about family ties of two children of different couples, breastfed by the same woman?

Conclusions

Breastfeeding is a strong WHO recommendation, support measures for breastfeeding women are already numerous in many countries. But when is the decision to breastfeed taken? Persons are most often confronted with breastfeeding when they are already pregnant, lacking time to make a really wanted choice, possibly under pressure from people around them, feeling guilty about the sometimes restrictive reality of breastfeeding. The aim of this work is to build a gender egalitarian sex education, considering all aspects of sexual and reproductive health, including breastfeeding.

Disclosure

No.