New Report: Government-Funded Abstinence Only Programs Put Youth At Risk
Analysis from the Future of Sex Education initiative finds Sexual Risk Avoidance Education programs include medically inaccurate information, stigmatizing language
Washington, D.C. (May 19, 2026) — A new report from the Future of Sex Education (FoSE) examines medically inaccurate and stigmatizing content in federally-funded Sexual Risk Avoidance Education programs.
An analysis of 14 widely-adopted Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) curricula, the report finds that these Title V-funded programs are thinly-veiled abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula that systematically withhold and distort the information young people need to navigate relationships, sexuality, and health safely and equitably.
“Young people deserve educational tools that help them make informed decisions about their bodies and their futures,” said Debra Hauser, President of the national youth activism and reproductive and sexual health organization Advocates for Youth. “FoSE’s analysis demonstrates that by spreading misinformation and stigma, Sexual Risk Avoidance Education programs don’t just mislead students – they put them at risk.”
FoSE’s analysis demonstrates that rather than offering an evidence-based, medically accurate, inclusive, and youth-centered education approach, SRAE programs reinforce rigid gender stereotypes, erase or marginalize LGBTQ+ students, frame sex outside the context of marriage as universally harmful, and replace skills-based education with obedience-based messaging.
“Sex education should be rooted in research and science, not fear, shame, and stigma,” said Callie Simon, Executive Director of SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change. “We urge elected officials and school administrators to move away from abstinence-only education and toward curricula that will actually set our young people up for success.”
“Calling abstinence-only curricula by a new name doesn’t mitigate its impact,” said Stephanie Lyon, Executive Director of Answer. “Decades of research show that one-size-fits-all sex education that withholds and distorts information about sex and sexuality is ineffective and dangerous.”
A collaboration between Advocates for Youth, Answer, SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America, FoSE aims to champion sex education and aspires to build a national foundation that empowers policymakers, school administrators, and educators to implement and sustain sex education and cultivate supportive learning environments. Since its inception, the FoSE partners have successfully completed numerous projects to advance the collective effort of improving sex education in U.S. schools, including its seminal publication the National Sex Education Standards.
Future of Sex Education experts are available for interviews to discuss the survey’s findings.
The complete report and supplemental materials can be found here.
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Advocates for Youth is a 501(c)3 organization that champions efforts that help young people make informed decisions about their reproductive and sexual health. Advocates boldly advocates for a more positive and realistic approach to adolescent sexual health, focusing its work on young people ages 14-25 in the U.S. and around the globe.
Advocates for Youth
For Immediate Release: May 19, 2024Contact: Eleanor Naiman, [email protected]