Under new plans to tackle violence against women and girls, boys as young as 11 could be sent for ‘anti-misogyny’ training courses if the teachers detect ‘toxic’ views.
All secondary schools in England will have to teach students about healthy relationships to tackle misogyny, as prime minister Keir Starmer claiming that too often toxic ideas are ‘going unchallenged’.
As part of the Government’s strategy to halve violence against women and girls (Vawg) in a decade, ministers are set to announce plans to intervene early on worrying behavior of young people.
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Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch has dismissed the government’s VAWG strategy as “a complete distraction” and has argued that teaching boys to respect women should not be a priority because migrants post a more serious threat to women and girls.
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Mail Online reports: 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 could be sent on training courses if they exhibit concerning behaviour, the Times reported, with the potential for the pilot scheme to be extended to primaries.
It comes as Department for Education-commissioned research found 70 per cent of secondary school teachers surveyed said their school had actively dealt with sexual violence and/or harassment between children.
Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips said the scheme would include ‘targeted interventions for young men where teachers spot behaviours, such as the sharing of intimate images, so that we can stop that behaviour progressing into something that may end up even more sinister in the future.’
She added: ‘I’m a bit sick, I have to say, as somebody who’s campaigned on this for many years, of just trying to put nicer plasters onto ever growing scars, and so … the Government is really, really focused on the prevention.’
A new helpline will also be set up for teenagers to get help over concerns for their own behaviour in relationships.
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.
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.’
But 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.
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’.
