Secondary schools in England will have to teach students about healthy relationships to tackle misogyny, as the Prime Minister said toxic ideas are too often “going unchallenged”.
It is as part of the government’s strategy to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) within a decade, which is set to be announced on Thursday.
Ministers will announce plans to encourage schools to intervene early when young people show worrying behaviour.
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.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer 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 include introducing specialist rape and sexual offences investigators in every police force, improving NHS support for survivors, and a £19 million funding boost for councils to provide safe housing for domestic abuse survivors.
The latest measures for educating children are backed by a £20 million package, with £16 million invested by the Government, which is working with philanthropists on an innovation fund.
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.
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 the experiences of teenagers.
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.”
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.
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