Education for sexuality in girls, boys and adolescents: current debate and social challenges

Abstract

Sexuality is a complex issue; It constitutes an essential part of their definition as individuals and implies a phase characterized by changes at a biological, psychological, social and cultural level. It usually manifests itself in a peculiar way in each subject; However, their lack of knowledge leads to having sexual relations from an early age, to practices without caution, as well as to developing a series of taboos and cultural barriers, used to stigmatize sexuality. For this reason, sexuality education in girls, boys and adolescents is essential, given that it constitutes an important reference for comprehensive health, for the protection and prevention of diseases, unwanted pregnancies and other series of conflicts arising from the topic. As such, sexual education not only seeks to delve deeper into genital anatomy or reproduction, but also to provide access to knowledge, guaranteeing a sexuality free of coercion, impositions or anomalies arising from the environment. In this order of ideas, the article aims to carry out a bibliographic exploration that accounts for sexuality education in childhood and adolescence, taking as selection criteria articles belonging to the Scopus and Google Scholar databases, in addition to the conceptual references provided by international organizations, to specify the scope of this human problem. Although this study does not intend to lay definitive foundations on the subject, it insists on the application of sexual education plans, whose purpose is to improve access to knowledge and guarantee better living conditions in these stages of human life.