Schools to teach about healthy relationships to tackle violence against girls

All secondary schools in England will have to teach students about healthy relationships to tackle misogyny as Sir Keir Starmer said too often toxic ideas are “going unchallenged”.

Ministers are set to announce plans to intervene early on worrying behaviour of young people as part of the Government’s strategy to halve violence against women and girls (Vawg) in a decade.

Teachers will be given specialist training to talk to pupils about issues such as consent and children who show harm towards parents, siblings or in relationships will be signed up to behaviour change programmes.

Secondary school children as young as 11, mainly boys, could be sent on the anti-misogyny training courses if they exhibit concerning behaviour, the Times reported.

The pilot could be extended to primaries, the newspaper also said.

A new helpline will also be set up for teenagers to get help over concerns for their own behaviour in relationships.

Sir Keir said: “Every parent should be able to trust that their daughter is safe at school, online and in her relationships.

“But too often toxic ideas are taking hold early and going unchallenged.

“This Government is stepping in sooner – backing teachers, calling out misogyny, and intervening when warning signs appear – to stop harm before it starts.

“This is about protecting girls and driving forward education and conversation with boys and young men, which is a responsibility we owe to the next generation, and one this Government will deliver.”

Measures already announced as part of the cross-government strategy have also included introducing specialist rape and sexual offences investigators to every police force, better support for survivors in the NHS and a £19 million funding boost for councils to provide safe housing for domestic abuse survivors.

The latest measures for educating children is backed by a £20 million package, with £16 million invested by the Government, which is working with philanthropists on an innovation fund.

Responding to the announcements made for the strategy so far, domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, Dame Nicole Jacobs, said the commitments “do not go far enough” to see the number of people experiencing abuse start to fall.

She added: “Today’s strategy rightly recognises the scale of this challenge and the need to address the misogynistic attitudes that underpin it, but the level of investment to achieve this falls seriously short.”

Dame Nicole also said overburdened schools are not being equipped with the infrastructure they need to safeguard child victims of domestic abuse.

Schools to take part in the teacher training pilot will be chosen next year, while ministers aim for all secondary schools to teach healthy relationship sessions by the end of this Parliament.

It comes as Department for Education-commissioned research found 70% of secondary school teachers surveyed said their school had actively dealt with sexual violence and/or harassment between children.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said schools already deliver relationships education through the curriculum but welcomed specialist training for teachers, adding it was “something school leaders have long called for”.

He said training must be for teachers across all phases of education and that schools are just “part of the solution”, with government, health, social care, police and parents all having a “significant contribution to make too”.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Having spent years working in a refuge for women experiencing domestic abuse, I know just how much early intervention could have changed lives – we cannot simply respond to harm after it happens; we must give young people the understanding and tools they need before attitudes harden into harm.”

Police and social services will also be given new guidance on teenage relationships to tackle abuse, and the legal framework for domestic abuse will be looked at to address experiences of teenagers.

Sir Keir has meanwhile vowed to look at whether younger people should have recognition as domestic abuse victims following the murder of 15-year-old Holly Newton by her stalker ex-boyfriend in Hexham, Northumberland, in January 2023.

Vawg minister Jess Phillips said: “For too long the scale of violence against women and girls has been treated as a fact of life in our country.

“I am determined our groundbreaking strategy will prevent women and girls from actually being harmed in the first place.

“Put together, from today, it will deploy the full power of the state to introduce the largest crackdown to stop violence perpetrated against women and girls in British history.”