Safety and violence are this year's Week6 theme.
Week6 is taking place this week, with safety and violence as this year's theme. Young people in Reykjavík chose this year's theme through online voting. Week6 is a sexual health initiative in which many primary schools, community centers, and preschools participate by offering age-appropriate sex education, projects, and workshops. Organizers stress that it is vital for children and young people to know the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships.
Education is key to preventing violence
This year's Week6 places special focus on enhancing sexual health education and creating space for open, honest, and age-appropriate conversations. Sex education is one of the most important ways to prevent sexual abuse. The education is always tailored to a child's age and developmental stage, aiming to build their self-awareness, encourage healthy interactions and relationships, and increase their understanding of their own rights.
Reykjavík's Gender Equality Academy organizes Week6 and produces a range of educational materials connected to each year's theme based on comprehensive sex education principles. The materials are available to everyone on the Gender Equality Academy and Week6 websites, featuring videos and resource kits organized by education level. Other municipalities are welcome to participate and use the educational materials found there.
Tackling a common question from teens
Indíana Rós Ægisdóttir, sexologist and project manager at Reykjavík's Gender Equality Academy, produced an educational video in partnership with the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service (RÚV) for young people. In the video, she tackles one of the most common questions she gets from teenagers: how to have good sex. While the title "Do You Want to Learn to Have Good Sex?" might seem provocative, the video itself clarifies that good sex is fundamentally about consent, communication, and well-being.
Week6 is based on UNESCO recommendations for comprehensive sex education, which considers all aspects of sexual health: physical, emotional, social, and spiritual.
This year's Week6 covers topics including:
Safety and boundaries: consent, setting and respecting boundaries, recognizing unhealthy relationships.
Violence and harassment: how to recognize it, how to respond, and where to get help.
Communication and connections: friendship, respect, diverse families and relationships.
Children's rights: The Convention on the Rights of the Child, social media influence, and finding their own voices.