International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights (INTERIGHTS) v. Croatia

International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights (INTERIGHTS) v. Croatia

Court/Judicial Body:
European Committee of Social Rights

Citation:
No. 45/2007 

Date:
30 March 2009

Instrument Cited:
European Social Charter 

Summary:
INTERIGHTS alleged violations of Article 11 (right to health), Article 16 (right of the family to social, legal and economic protection) and Article 17 (right of children and young persons to social, legal and economic protection) of the European Social Charter.

Specifically, INTERIGHTS complained that Croatian schools did not provide comprehensive, adequate, unbiased sexual and reproductive health education for children and young people.  The Committee did not find the overall quality or quantity of sex education provided to be inadequate, but found violations of Article 11 in the Croatian curriculum's blatant discrimination against sexual minorities.  In particular, the Committee noted that perpetuating negative stereotypes of non-heterosexual persons in educational materials presented children with a distorted view of human sexuality and would only serve to reinforce social exculsion and the denial of human dignity for these persons.

Link to Full Judgement:
http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/socialcharter/complaints/CC45Merits_en.pdf 

This case summary is provided by the Child Rights International Network for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice.