The recent Paraguayan Ministry of Education and Science resolution banning the dissemination and use of materials on what the ministry calls “gender theory and/or ideology”, is a major step backwards for human rights and is contrary to Paraguay’s international obligations, said Amnesty International.

Some sectors of society and religious groups launched a campaign to withdraw materials on sex, reproduction, gender equality and discrimination from the public education system. The resolution, dated 5 October 2017, in which the ministry bans these materials, was published today.

“This decision represents an extremely dangerous backward step for human rights in the country. Under cover of the malicious expression ‘gender ideology’, what is really happening here is the suppression of education about equality and discrimination, which is an international obligation of the Paraguayan state not an ideology”, said Erika Guevara Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.

After signing and ratifying a series of international commitments, including the Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Montevideo Consensus, to name but a few, the Paraguayan state is obliged to promote equality and oppose discrimination.

The gender equality principles set out in these international human rights treaties, all ratified by Paraguay, and in the country’s Constitution, aim to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and against persons who suffer exclusion and diverse forms of violence because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Read more via Amnesty International