A video produced by a World Health Organisation collaborator showing a facilitator discussing genital pleasure and masturbation with children as young as four has gone viral, igniting a fierce international debate about the boundaries of sex education in schools and the role of global health bodies in shaping what children are taught.
The footage was produced by Rutgers, a Netherlands-based sexual health organisation and formal WHO collaborator. In the clip, a female facilitator calmly questions two young children — a girl of approximately nine and a younger boy — about their bodies. The facilitator explains to the girl that touching her clitoris “can feel nice when rubbed” and asks the boy directly whether he touches his “willie.” He responds awkwardly, saying he does so “at home.”
The video is part of Rutgers’ broader comprehensive sexuality education approach, which introduces concepts including body awareness, pleasure and self-exploration to children from as early as age four. The organisation’s Spring Fever curriculum is used in Dutch primary schools and forms part of a model that Rutgers has exported internationally in partnership with the WHO, UNESCO, the United Nations Population Fund and other global bodies.
The WHO co-developed the Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe, a framework to which Rutgers experts contributed directly. That document includes guidance suggesting children aged zero to four should receive “information about enjoyment and pleasure when touching one’s body.” The WHO has consistently maintained that such guidance is developmental rather than instructional in nature — aimed at reducing shame, correcting harmful myths, and helping young children understand bodily privacy and the concept of consent.
Critics are not convinced, and the video’s circulation has drawn condemnation from parents, conservative commentators and child protection advocates in multiple countries. Many argue that directly questioning young children about genital touching and explaining clitoral pleasure to a nine-year-old in a school setting crosses a fundamental line — irrespective of the educational framework applied to it. For many viewers, the involvement of internationally funded bodies in developing and exporting such material has compounded the sense of alarm.
Supporters of the Dutch model respond by pointing to outcomes. The Netherlands consistently records some of the world’s lowest teenage pregnancy rates, low levels of sexually transmitted infections and high rates of contraceptive use among young people at the time of their first sexual experience. Advocates argue that the data vindicates early, open education about bodies and that reducing shame around natural curiosity ultimately protects children rather than harming them.
The divide the footage has exposed, however, is both deep and widening. Opposition to explicit sexuality education materials for pre-teenage children has grown considerably across Europe, North America and beyond in recent years, with an increasing number of parents arguing that such decisions belong to families rather than to international organisations and the school systems they influence.
Rutgers and the WHO had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
