While reports of femicides follow one another day after day – the latest being that of Pamela Genini on the outskirts of Milan – in Italian schools sex and relationship education is increasingly becoming a taboo: thanks to an amendment to a bill on informed consent in schools, sex and relationship education, which until now had been excluded from primary schools and below, is set to become off limits in lower secondary schools too. That means middle schools, attended by young people between the ages of 11 and 14. Yet another small but significant blow to adolescent education. The amendment to the so-called 'ddl Valditara', bearing the signature of Giorgia Latini, a Lega MP, extends the exclusion of teaching and project activities "as well as any other possible activities dealing with topics related to the sphere of sexuality" beyond nursery and primary schools to include "lower secondary school" as well: middle school, in other words.

This is a serious decision because, according to the "Comprehensive sexuality education country profiles" report by Unesco, conducted across 50 countries, just 20 per cent of them have legislation on sex and relationship education, while 39 per cent have adopted specific initiatives. Italy finds itself, unsurprisingly, among the lowest-ranked EU member states: in Europe, 19 countries have made sex education compulsory in schools, often expanding it beyond aspects more strictly tied to biology to include topics such as relationships, consent and gender roles.

To be fair, an attempt had been made in Italy last year: in the 2024 Budget Law, an amendment was passed with Riccardo Magi, secretary of Più Europa, as its lead signatory – even with votes from the majority (more through a misreading of the text than out of genuine conviction, it must be said) – which allocated funds for sex and relationship education in schools. But within a matter of weeks, those funds had been redirected and earmarked for teacher training on male and female fertility.