Department for Education Statutory Guidance for Relationships and Sex Education in England: A Rights-Based Approach?

Setty, Emily; Dobson, Emma

doi:10.1007/s10508-022-02340-5

Department for Education Statutory Guidance for Relationships and Sex Education in England: A Rights-Based Approach?

Setty, Emily; Dobson, Emma

Authors

Emily Setty

Emma Dobson e.s.dobson@durham.ac.uk
PGR Student Doctor of Philosophy

Abstract

In England, the Children and Social Work Act (HMSO, 2017) bestowed compulsory status on relationships and sex education (RSE), which means that young people’s right to receive RSE has been codified in law. This paper analyzes how this right is upheld and enacted within the Department for Education (DfE) (2019) statutory guidance on RSE for schools in England. The analysis suggests that the guidance features contradictory discourses in which young people’s rights are ostensibly advanced, but remain structured by adult-centric, heteronormative understandings of sex and relationships. It upholds a decontextualized and legalistic approach to rights, responsibilities, informed choice, and decision making. A narrow conception of rights is particularly evident regarding young people’s digital sexual cultures, which are predominantly framed in terms of risk and harm. We argue that scholars should investigate how educators are designing and delivering RSE in light of the guidance, and the opportunities for and obstacles to a genuinely “rights-based” approach to RSE. While the policy discussed in this article is specific to England, the discussion has wider relevance for practitioners and policymakers across cultural and geographic contexts as it draws upon a model for analyzing how young people’s sexuality is presented and addressed in legislative and curricular documentation.

Citation

Setty, E., & Dobson, E. (2022). Department for Education Statutory Guidance for Relationships and Sex Education in England: A Rights-Based Approach?. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 52(1), 79-93. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02340-5

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Apr 13, 2022
Online Publication Date	Sep 28, 2022
Publication Date	2022
Deposit Date	Oct 3, 2022
Publicly Available Date	Jan 23, 2023
Journal	Archives of Sexual Behavior
Print ISSN	0004-0002
Electronic ISSN	1573-2800
Publisher	Springer
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	52
Issue	1
Pages	79-93
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02340-5

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