The battle over gender in Peru's sex education curriculum – who decides what and how it is taught?
- Stephano Martelsocial communicator and journalist, focused on social topics and national developments
Peru has introduced a major shift in how sex education is taught in schools. Congress passed Law No. 32535, which repeals the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) framework that had been in place since 2021, replacing it with a new model called Sex Education Based on Scientific, Biological, and Ethical Grounds. Subsequently, the Ministry of Education approved the new guidelines through Vice-Ministerial Resolution No. 085-2026-MINEDU, formally eliminating the provisions established under the previous CSE framework.
The new sex education model will be integrated into the National Curriculum and will take effect in December 2026 for both public and private schools.
What does this change actually entail?
The 2021 CSE guidelines framed sexuality as an integral and human dimension of the person. Among its objectives were helping students understand and value their bodies, develop their identity, build healthy emotional relationships, and acquire tools for responsible decision-making. It also addressed the prevention of violence, teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, HIV, discrimination, and gender stereotypes.
The new model retains some of these objectives – particularly those related to prevention, care, responsibility, and student protection – but reorganises them within a different conceptual framework. According to the office of Congresswoman Milagros Jáuregui, the law's author, sex education based on scientific, biological, and ethical grounds emphasises "a scientific vision of sexuality, the recognition of human biology, the postponement of early sexual initiation, and responsible and stable relationships."
Consequently, this is not simply about eliminating sex education or changing how prevention, protection, and sexual rights are taught – it is a shift in approach. And it is precisely within that shift that one of the main controversies emerges: the treatment of gender.
The new legislation establishes equal opportunities between women and men as a core principle, whereas the 2021 CSE guidelines explicitly incorporated a gender equality approach. In the previous document, this approach was linked to preventing stereotypes, promoting equality and non-discrimination, and fostering respectful relationships.
Proponents of the new model argue that the revision allows for a return to a biology-centred sex education that exclusively recognises the teaching of male and female categories. Critics, however, contend that downplaying the gender focus could fuel social inequalities, stereotypes, and discrimination.
So what will this change actually mean in the classroom? How will situations of harassment or violence related to sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity be addressed? What content will students receive, and how will it be adapted to different ages and contexts?
These questions take on particular significance when a large and highly relevant community is affected: the LGBTIQ+ population. According to Ipsos, a 2019 survey estimated that more than 1.7 million Peruvian adults identified as non-heterosexual. The same study found that 71% of Peruvians believed that the LGBT population faced discrimination in the country. In 2025, the same polling firm reported that 59% of Peruvians acknowledged the existence of discrimination against LGBTIQA+ people.
These figures reinforce the idea that discrimination is a social reality that any educational policy must take into account.
The new regulations include provisions related to equality and the prohibition of discrimination. However, it remains to be seen whether these guarantees will translate into concrete tools for schools to prevent and address violence, harassment, or exclusion.
Another fundamental element is the role of families. The 2021 CSE guidelines already recognised parents as important actors in sex education. The difference lies in the emphasis introduced by the new framework: Law No. 32535 more explicitly reinforces the participation of parents or guardians in the educational process, incorporating their moral convictions and freedom of conscience.
This raises a new question: how far can family involvement go, and where does the State's responsibility begin to ensure a common educational content for all students?
Peru is home to diverse cultures, traditions, and religious beliefs, which makes the discussion even more complex. The new guidelines establish that sex education must consider the socio-cultural context of students. This means acknowledging that families and communities have distinct characteristics that can hardly be addressed within a single cultural framework.
Thus, while a community may preserve certain traditions and a family may transmit moral or religious values to its children, it is the State that must set boundaries and ensure that all students receive the fundamental knowledge to understand their bodies, prevent risks, and protect their integrity.
Community participation helps education incorporate social and cultural characteristics – but that participation must be aligned with and go hand in hand with standards that guarantee the protection and well-being of all students.
The Peruvian debate is not happening in isolation. Latin America has been discussing approaches to Comprehensive Sexuality Education for years. Some countries have consolidated comprehensive models, while in others controversies persist around gender, diversity, family, and religion. Argentina and Uruguay, for example, are countries where comprehensive sex education has achieved significant institutionalisation, while others – such as Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay – have experienced modifications, restrictions, or political debates around these content areas.
In this context, it is worth noting that, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), as of 2021, 16 out of 19 Latin American countries had made Comprehensive Sexuality Education compulsory in schools. From 2023 onward, the number of countries with CSE fell from 15 out of 19 to 12 out of 17.
Peru now joins this latter trend through a distinctive shift – it is not eliminating sex education, but rather replacing the 2021 CSE framework with a model based on scientific, biological, and ethical criteria.
Sex education will continue to be an open subject because it involves scientific, familial, cultural, ethical, and religious dimensions that constantly shape the teaching framework. Scientific evidence must remain a fundamental reference for determining which knowledge contributes to the health, prevention, and well-being of children and adolescents.
At the same time, the application of that knowledge takes place within a diverse society, where different conceptions of family, sexuality, values, and education coexist.
The new model is only just beginning to be implemented, and it will be its application in the classroom that allows for an evaluation of its results.
The real challenge for Peru will be to strike a balance between scientific evidence, family participation, cultural diversity, and the various convictions present in society – without losing sight of what should be a priority for everyone: the right of children and adolescents to receive rigorous information, prevent risks, be protected from violence, and develop the skills to make responsible decisions.
The new sex education model will be integrated into the National Curriculum and will take effect in December 2026 for both public and private schools.
What does this change actually entail?
The 2021 CSE guidelines framed sexuality as an integral and human dimension of the person. Among its objectives were helping students understand and value their bodies, develop their identity, build healthy emotional relationships, and acquire tools for responsible decision-making. It also addressed the prevention of violence, teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, HIV, discrimination, and gender stereotypes.
The new model retains some of these objectives – particularly those related to prevention, care, responsibility, and student protection – but reorganises them within a different conceptual framework. According to the office of Congresswoman Milagros Jáuregui, the law's author, sex education based on scientific, biological, and ethical grounds emphasises "a scientific vision of sexuality, the recognition of human biology, the postponement of early sexual initiation, and responsible and stable relationships."
Consequently, this is not simply about eliminating sex education or changing how prevention, protection, and sexual rights are taught – it is a shift in approach. And it is precisely within that shift that one of the main controversies emerges: the treatment of gender.
The new legislation establishes equal opportunities between women and men as a core principle, whereas the 2021 CSE guidelines explicitly incorporated a gender equality approach. In the previous document, this approach was linked to preventing stereotypes, promoting equality and non-discrimination, and fostering respectful relationships.
Proponents of the new model argue that the revision allows for a return to a biology-centred sex education that exclusively recognises the teaching of male and female categories. Critics, however, contend that downplaying the gender focus could fuel social inequalities, stereotypes, and discrimination.
So what will this change actually mean in the classroom? How will situations of harassment or violence related to sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity be addressed? What content will students receive, and how will it be adapted to different ages and contexts?
These questions take on particular significance when a large and highly relevant community is affected: the LGBTIQ+ population. According to Ipsos, a 2019 survey estimated that more than 1.7 million Peruvian adults identified as non-heterosexual. The same study found that 71% of Peruvians believed that the LGBT population faced discrimination in the country. In 2025, the same polling firm reported that 59% of Peruvians acknowledged the existence of discrimination against LGBTIQA+ people.
These figures reinforce the idea that discrimination is a social reality that any educational policy must take into account.
The new regulations include provisions related to equality and the prohibition of discrimination. However, it remains to be seen whether these guarantees will translate into concrete tools for schools to prevent and address violence, harassment, or exclusion.
Another fundamental element is the role of families. The 2021 CSE guidelines already recognised parents as important actors in sex education. The difference lies in the emphasis introduced by the new framework: Law No. 32535 more explicitly reinforces the participation of parents or guardians in the educational process, incorporating their moral convictions and freedom of conscience.
This raises a new question: how far can family involvement go, and where does the State's responsibility begin to ensure a common educational content for all students?
Peru is home to diverse cultures, traditions, and religious beliefs, which makes the discussion even more complex. The new guidelines establish that sex education must consider the socio-cultural context of students. This means acknowledging that families and communities have distinct characteristics that can hardly be addressed within a single cultural framework.
Thus, while a community may preserve certain traditions and a family may transmit moral or religious values to its children, it is the State that must set boundaries and ensure that all students receive the fundamental knowledge to understand their bodies, prevent risks, and protect their integrity.
Community participation helps education incorporate social and cultural characteristics – but that participation must be aligned with and go hand in hand with standards that guarantee the protection and well-being of all students.
The Peruvian debate is not happening in isolation. Latin America has been discussing approaches to Comprehensive Sexuality Education for years. Some countries have consolidated comprehensive models, while in others controversies persist around gender, diversity, family, and religion. Argentina and Uruguay, for example, are countries where comprehensive sex education has achieved significant institutionalisation, while others – such as Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay – have experienced modifications, restrictions, or political debates around these content areas.
In this context, it is worth noting that, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), as of 2021, 16 out of 19 Latin American countries had made Comprehensive Sexuality Education compulsory in schools. From 2023 onward, the number of countries with CSE fell from 15 out of 19 to 12 out of 17.
Peru now joins this latter trend through a distinctive shift – it is not eliminating sex education, but rather replacing the 2021 CSE framework with a model based on scientific, biological, and ethical criteria.
Sex education will continue to be an open subject because it involves scientific, familial, cultural, ethical, and religious dimensions that constantly shape the teaching framework. Scientific evidence must remain a fundamental reference for determining which knowledge contributes to the health, prevention, and well-being of children and adolescents.
At the same time, the application of that knowledge takes place within a diverse society, where different conceptions of family, sexuality, values, and education coexist.
The new model is only just beginning to be implemented, and it will be its application in the classroom that allows for an evaluation of its results.
The real challenge for Peru will be to strike a balance between scientific evidence, family participation, cultural diversity, and the various convictions present in society – without losing sight of what should be a priority for everyone: the right of children and adolescents to receive rigorous information, prevent risks, be protected from violence, and develop the skills to make responsible decisions.
You May Also Interested