Boys as young as 11 could be sent on anti-misogyny training courses under plans unveiled by ministers to tackle the epidemic of violence against women and 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 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.’
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’
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.
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.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticised the strategy as a ‘big mess’.
She also said that anti-misogyny classes for teenage boys are only being rolled out because ‘some people in Labour’ watched the Netflix drama Adolescence.
Mrs Badenoch said: ‘They need to do the right thing, put police officers on the street, stop people who come from cultures that don’t respect women coming into our country, foreign criminals removed as soon as they commit crimes.’
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’.
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.
