The remarks were made by Barbara Nowak, the education superintendent for Małopolska, a province of 3.4 million people in southern Poland centred around the city of Kraków. The national government appoints one such official in each of Poland’s 16 provinces, where they are tasked with overseeing schools.

Nowak, a controversial and outspoken figure, was asked in an interview with news website Wirtualna Polska about claims commonly made by her and other Polish conservatives that the World Health Organisation (WHO) is seeking to “sexualise” children.

“The WHO outlines the aims to quickly interest young people in their bodies and in the pleasure of artificially aroused sexuality,” she answered. “These groups claim that the easiest way to relieve a small child’s emotions is through masturbation.”

“In Swedish preschools there are special rooms where the teacher goes with a child and masturbates them,” Nowak continued. “They then know that they can also masturbate on their own.”