Panama Remains Divided over Sex-Ed

On Thursday July 14th the Panamanian government filed a motion for the controversial bill 61 which would offer sexual and reproductive health education in public schools across Panama. The bill has society divided, with individuals and organizations both in favor and against the new curriculum to be taught in Panama's public schools, which continues to be debated.

The first Bill 61 debate brought together activists of human rights, students, Catholic and Evangelical churches, parents, women and youth to voice their views on sexual and reproductive health education and the proposed guides that have been prepared by the Ministry of Education (Meduca).

Rubiela Sánchez, a member of the Panama Coalition for Comprehensive Sexual Education explained "the debate should aim to improve the curriculum and gain consensus among the diverse members of civil society". An interesting remake he made concerned teen pregnancy. “It is unfortunate, while the law is being discussed the issue of teen pregnancy will continue to be ignored” he said.

Panamanian Association for Family Planning member, Rossana Uribe, spoke to the alarming data on teem pregnancy. Just under 1,000 teens become pregnant in Panama every month. In her opinion, this is a matter of public health, not one of religion. Religion is an approach proven to be unsuccessful, she explains.

Those who are not in favor of the law include those who believe that public schools are not the venue for the discussion and those who are against the discussion all together. Roderick Burgos, a member of the Alliance for Life and the Family, disagrees with the venue but not sexual education. “We have proposals and we believe in sex education for our children," he said, adding that these proposals have not been included in the discussion.”
Members of the Evangelical, Catholicchurches against the bill 61 on sex education and sex education guidelines developed by Meduca held a march on Wednesday July 13th. The march culminated at the National Assembly.

In an opinion piece published by La Prensa four basic reasons to have sex-ed in schools, after more than a decade of trying to implement such curriculum, included:

Teen Pregnancy in Panama

There are approximately 32 cases of teen pregnancy and pregnancies among young girls (ages 10 - 19) occurring daily and no information on the number of abortions to accompany that figure.

Sexually Transmitted Disease among Teens in Panama

HIV is among the leading causes of death for teens between the ages of 15 to 24 years. Considering that the diseases’ incubation period is around four to eight years, this means that many who’ve lost their lives to AIDS in Panama were exposed to the disease at an age as young as 11 years old.

Cases of Unreported Rape and Sexual Harassment in Panama

It is estimated that up to 95% of cases of rape go unreported in Panama.  Unknown to the justice system, this sexual violence continues in all social classes. Sexual harassment is also a problem in schools, universities, work environments and now online. A significant number of suicides can be linked to sexual harassment.

Prostitution and Child Pornography in Panama

With the internet sex trade continues to grow. Prostitution and child pornography have become more accessible.

Although prostitution is legal in Panama and regulated by the requirement of registering and carrying and identification card, the majority of prostitutes in Panama are not registered. The US State Department’s Human Rights Report for Panama states that “there is no accurate information regarding the number of persons practicing prostitution in the country and that trafficking among these women was a problem.”

A study in the American Journal of Epidemiology states that prostitutes are 13 times more likely to be murdered than the general public.

If education on sexual health and reproduction lacks the consequences  and dangers of the sex trade will remain unknown.

Following the first debate on the controversial bill 61 that would offer sexual and reproductive health education in Panama's public schools the country awaits The National Assembly's decision to either amend the proposal or pass it along for final approval.