French family planning agency turns to British TV show Sex Education

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Aimee Lou Wood as Aimee, Asa Butterfield as Otis in Sex EducationImage source, Samuel Taylor/Netflix
Image caption,

The fourth series of Sex Education began last week

A French family planning agency has launched a campaign encouraging young people to talk about sex, inspired by the hit British TV show Sex Education.

Le Planning Familial said it was promoting its free helpline with Netflix as part of its "fight for access to sex education for all".

Posters detailing questions inspired by the show, but asked by 15-25 year olds, can be found in French cities, it said.

The comedy-drama's fourth and final series launched on Netflix last week.

It follows teenage sex therapist Otis (Asa Butterfield) who, encouraged by the entrepreneurial Maeve (Emma Mackey), ends up running a self-styled clinic at their school.

The Netflix series has been widely praised for its honesty, diversity and representation of difficult subjects.

In France, sex education was made compulsory in 2001. But Le Planning Familial says young people have questions and few answers.

The organisation said the collaboration comes "at a time when access to reliable, inclusive information about sex is in danger".

Sarah Durocher, Le Planning Familial's president, said the series had been a source of information and inspiration in terms of questions young people were asking their service.

Image source, Le Planning familial

The posters - advertising "La Hotline Sex Education" - highlight five example questions inspired by the series, including "Is foreplay sex?", "How do I know if I like boys or girls?" and "Is contraception only for girls?"

Its tagline says: "It's the final season, but sex education continues."

The campaign runs until Tuesday.