All cases

Christian Hybrid School Forcibly Closed by German Authorities

October 19, 2023, Germany

The Dietrich Bonhoeffer International School in Germany was forced to close for the year by German education authorities. The school has been open for 9 years with an award-winning pedagogical model. Germany has banned homeschooling, hybrid schools, and has tightened restrictions on private schools. German authorities wrote to the school that "the immediate enforcement of prohibitions is ordered", preventing students from continuing their schooling there for the rest of the year. The government has also fined the school 600 euros in administrative fees. Authorities stated that the school website was an "advertisement for the impermissible school", and was ordered to be shut down. The school is arguing that Germany is violating national and international human rights law - including parents' rights to educate their children in accordance with their philosophical and religious convictions - with its ban on homeschooling, along with other restrictions on education. An urgency lawsuit to reopen the school is currently pending.

New conversion therapy ban in Iceland affects Religious Freedom of parents

June 9, 2023, Iceland

In line with other European countries, Iceland has approved a ban on conversion therapies for 'sexual orientation,' 'gender expression' and 'gender identity.' The problem arises from the redaction of the new law, that restricts freedom of religion and parental choice. The law does not specify what is considered "conversion therapy", which could lead to the criminalization of harmless spiritual counseling by parents or fellow believers.

UPDATE: Spain's Lower House Passes Bill Allowing Abortion for Minors Without Parental Consent

December 15, 2022, Spain

After some months of debate, the Congress of Deputies (the national parliament lower house in Madrid) recently passed the new abortion law. This law breaches human rights for parents and medical staff alike, as it allows minor girls 16 and 17 years old to undergo an abortion without parental consent. Also, the freedom of conscience for medical staff is under pressure, as doctors who opt-out from this procedure for conscience reasons will be placed on a list of "conscientious objectors" and removed from the medical committees that decide over a woman's claims of malformation or illness of the foetus that want to abort beyond the limit of the first 14 weeks.

Parents were not allowed to view Sex-Education material delivered in schools by external organizations

October 15, 2022, United Kingdom

The Christian Institute has reported that parents of children at Hatcham College were denied access to see the Sex-Education lesson slides used by an external NGO. The parents requested access to the slides by the School of Sexuality Education (SoSE), but the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) denied their request, stating it would compromise the sex education provider’s “intellectual property”. This, nevertheless, undermines parental rights, as the parents are not able to raise concern over material being taught to their children that might go against their beliefs.

Minsk authorities close the Catholic school of the Catholic Christian Social Center

October 6, 2022, Belarus

It was reported on the 6th of October that Minsk authorities closed a religious school at the Catholic Christian Social Center of the city. Police were sent to the centre to check "whether there were any classes there", Radio Svaboda reports. According to Fr. Yuri Sanko, Minsk authorities ordered the social and educational parts to be closed on August the 30th.

Scotland: proposed “conversion therapy” ban gravely affects parents' rights and religious freedom

October 4, 2022, United Kingdom

A new report was submitted to the Scottish Government on the 4th of October that could criminalize efforts by parents to mentor their children according to their beliefs, with the possibility of losing parental custody. Prayers and private conversations could also be criminalized. The report considers "conversion practices" as "any treatment, practice or effort that aims to change, suppress, and/or eliminate a person's sexual orientation, expression of sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression.".

Spain: "Trans Law" Approved, Restricts Parental Rights and Free Speech

June 27, 2022, Spain

On the 27th of June, the Spanish Cabinet approved the so-called 'trans law', despite controversy. Now it goes to the Spanish Parliament "where an intense debate is expected". According to the government, the purpose of this law is "to advance in the depathologisation of transsexuality and gender self-determination". The law has been criticized, as it criminalizes content that questions the trans ideology, including anything that might be understood as "conversion therapy", and it undermines parental rights.

Books with Anti-Catholic Language Distributed by Castellon City Council

May 31, 2022, Spain

A lawsuit filed in October 2021 by the Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers to remove books with anti-Catholic language has been dismissed. In the mentioned books, it is possible to find statements such as "The bishop gets it in the ass", "Hookers in the Vatican" and "Allah is not great and Jesus does not love us". The lawsuit called for the reiteration of 32 LGTBI-themed books distributed to 12 public institutes of Castellón and in the center of minors Pi Gros. The books were distributed by the City Council. The Contentious-Administrative Court 1 of Castellón dismissed the case. The Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers said they will appeal the judicial decision before the Superior Court of Justice, on the grounds that, in their perspective, "these books violate fundamental rights and incite hatred against all religions".

Children from Football Club Threatened with Sanctions if They go to First Communion Ceremony

May 24, 2022, Spain

The Castilla-La Mancha Football Federation refused to change the date of a match, forcing the young players from Membrilla's football team to choose between celebrating their first communion or playing the league final. The Federation further threatened them with sanctions, since the parents choose the church instead of submitting to the sports institution.

Parental Consent Not Needed for Children Under 16 Years Old to Take Puberty Blockers

May 6, 2022, United Kingdom

On the 6th of May, the Supreme Court of the UK declined to take the Bell v Tavistock case, regarding puberty blockers for teenagers under 16 years old, which means the ruling by the Court of Appeals will currently stand. After the High Court ruled that 13-year-olds were not old enough and needed parental consent to begin hormone blockers; Tavistock appealed in June of 2021 and the Court of Appeals ruled that it was not the High Court's decision to make. Instead, they ruled that parental consent was unnecessary and that clinicians could decide it with their patients. This is a significant concern for Christian parents who would disagree with such treatment.

Spanish Council of the Judiciary: Proposed "Trans Law" Would Violate Human Rights

April 22, 2022, Spain

The Spanish General Council of the Judiciary's (CGPJ), warned that the LGBTQ+ draft law proposed by the government would violate the rights of women, parents, and religious persons. The law seeks to allow minors to change their sex after the age of 12 without submitting a medical or psychological report and after the age of 16, parental consent would not be needed. Christian parents would not be able to raise their children in line with their beliefs and women's spaces and women's sports could be jeopardized.

DIY Abortion Pills Violate Parental Rights in England

April 5, 2022, United Kingdom

New DIY abortion laws in the UK, allow for women to have an abortion without seeing a medical professional; but, by simple talking, and then ordering pills over the phone. This raised serious concern for the health of women and the possibility for minors to abort without properly consulting a professional or their parents before starting something that could traumatize their lives. Parental rights are violated in this case, which is especially problematic for Christian parents who would not agree with their child taking such actions.

Update: Conversion Therapy Ban in UK No Longer Covers Transgender People

March 31, 2022, United Kingdom

Boris Johnson announced on March 31st that the so-called conversion therapy ban in the UK would no longer cover transgender people but only gay or bisexual people. This was a change from what had been announced a few hours earlier which was that the ban would be dropped entirely and non-legislative methods would be explored. Despite the entire ban not being dropped, this was still good news for the Christian community as this potential legislation would make it difficult if not impossible, for parents and teachers to encourage their children to adopt the Bibles views on gender and marriage.

WEA Called Greece to Provide Religious Classes other than Christian Orthodox

March 23, 2022, Greece

In the UN Human Rights council's Universal Periodic Review of Greece on April 23rd, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), encouraged Greece to provide alternative religious classes for students who were not Orthodox Christians. They said that there should be a class for all major religions in Greece and the Orthodox Christian class should be optional, as should all the other religious classes. This would increase the religious liberty of all denominations but also that of other Christian religions and especially parents of alternative religions.

English Schools Transition Pupils without Parents Knowledge

March 15, 2022, United Kingdom

Robin Walker, Schools Minister in England, told the House of Commons' Education Select Committee that schools would continue to teach LGBTQ+ content. This came in response to Conservative MP Miriam Cates who said "you cannot change sex" and that she often got concerns from parents that their children were being transitioned in school. This posses a problem for Christian parents and children who may disagree with such teachings on a religious basis.

Denying Someone's Preferred Gender could be Criminalised in Scotland

March 14, 2022, United Kingdom

The SNP in Scotland have advocated for legislation that will make it a criminal offence to not "affirm" someone's preferred gender and make it illegal for parents to "refuse to support" their children in taking puberty blockers. This legislation would prevent people from legally holding to their religious beliefs on issues like gender and infringe on parental rights by not allowing parents to educate their children on sexual matters in a way they deem appropriate. The latter would disproportionately affect Christian parents who may have religiously grounded sexual guidelines.

Next Step in Sweden's Ban of Religious Schools

March 8, 2022, Sweden

The Swedish Minister of Education, Lina Axelsson Kihlblom, announced the next step in the Social Democrat's plan to ban private religious schools. It will impose stricter regulations on schools that require them to report all religious activities and principals will have to pass "democratic conditions" to have their position. These new regulations have been introduced in the "democracy clause" and were justified with the need for "democratic control" of education.

16 to 18 Year Old Girls in Spain may no Longer Need Parental Consent to Abort

February 23, 2022, Spain

Irene Montero, Spain's equality minister, has told Congress's Equality Commission that 16 to 18 year old girls should be allowed to access abortion without consulting their parents. This would allow for the daughter of Christian parents to complete an abortion without them knowing or being able to advise her on this life changing event. This change has no set date yet but will greatly affect the lives of minor girls if enacted.

School in Flen May Face 10,000 SEK Fine for Prayer

February 1, 2022, Sweden

The Ålidenskolan kindergarten in Flen may be charged a fine of 10,000 SEK (960 euros) if they continue to do a meal time payer in school. They came under scrutiny after an school inspection accused them for having a religious element to their teaching which is not in line with Swedish regulations. This reflects Sweden's goal to remove all religion from their education system.

New School Guidance on "Supporting Transgender Young People" in Scotland Violates Human Rights and Is Ideologically Infused, Say Critics

August 21, 2021, United Kingdom

Scottish feminists groups and lawyers are siding with the Christian Institute who consider the new guidance introduced by the government as highly questionable and being promoting a dangerous ideology. The document states that some children "are exploring their gender identity in primary school settings", and that they can come out as transgender "at any age". It reads: “If a young person in the school says that they now want to live as a boy although their sex assigned at birth was female, or they now want to live as a girl, although their sex assigned at birth was male, it is important to provide support and listen to what they are saying.”Marion Calder, from For Women Scotland described the new guidance as "really, really worrying". Leading Human Rights Lawyer Aidan O'Neill criticised that this move goes against human rights laws and is additionally a threat to parental rights. The Government has now backtracked from their plans as the Christian Institute threatened them with legal action.