US right wing blasts UN for "promoting masturbation"

       A UN plan to improve the sexual education of the world's children come under attack from elements of the American right wing, who have accused the organisation of promoting masturbation and abortion.
       Last week, the UN cultural organisation Unesco released a draft "International Guidelines on Sexual Education"intended for discussion among experts in the coming months before a final version is sent to national authorities.
       The guidelines are meant as a "global template" of ideas to help young people make safe and responsible sexual choices,avoid sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy and escape prostitution or other abuses.
       But one section of the draft in particular appears to have caught the eye of conservatives in the US media."UN report advocates teaching masturbation to five-year-olds", ran one story on the Fox News website.
       The Fox report and many more like it from mainly right-wing US media and Internet outlets, focused on the Unesco report's suggested syllabus for school children from five to eight years old.
       The report says:"It is natural to explore and touch parts of one's own body.Bodies can feel good when touched.Touching and rubbing one's genitals is called masturbating. Some people masturbate and some do not.
       "Masturbation is not harmful, but should be done in private," it adds.
       By the age of nine, children following the programme will learn what their local laws on abortion are and that "legal abortion performed under sterile conditions by medically trained personnel is safe," the Unesco draft says.
       The report adds that while "not having sexual intercourse is the most effective form of contraception ... condoms and other contraceptives can be used to prevent unintended pregnancy".
       The draft suggests that children aged 12 would be taught that "contraceptives and condoms give people the opportunity to enjoy their sexuality without unintended consequences" but that "there are ways to give and receive sexual pleasure without penetration".
       While Unesco insists the guidelines are not binding and will be adapted according to local norms in countries that choose to adopt them, American conservatives see a move to undermine traditional morality.
       They complain in particular that the report sidelines parents and promotes homosexuality and abortion.
       "Excluding parents from the process keeps them from being aware of how frequently 'sexuality education' indoctrinates against traditional values,"complains Janice Shaw Crouse, writing for the American Thinker.
       Ms Crouse, who works for the Concerned Women of America conservative Christian pressure group, accuses Unesco of seeking to "establish a bureaucracy to teach masturbation and contraception".