UK to send boys to courses to tackle misogyny in schools under long-awaited VAWG strategy

Britain's government on Tuesday unveiled its long-delayed Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy, outlining a package of measures intended to curb misogyny and reduce gender-based violence over the next decade. A £20 million schools package will fund teacher training to spot and challenge misogyny in the classroom, including lessons on consent and the dangers of sharing intimate images. High-risk pupils could be enrolled in behavioural courses designed to address prejudice against women and girls, part of a broader effort to intervene at an early stage.

Officials said the measures in England's schools form part of a wider strategy that also covers policing, online safety, and support for survivors. The government plans to pilot the teacher-training programme next year and aims for all secondary schools to teach healthy relationship education by the end of this Parliament. The package also includes a helpline for teenagers seeking confidential support for concerns about relationship abuse and guidance on identifying positive role models to counter unhealthy myths about women and relationships.

Funded delivery details show the taxpayer covering about £16 million of the total £20 million, with the remaining £4 million raised by philanthropists and partners through an innovation fund. The funding spans the three-year spending window of the current spending review period. Ministers say the money is meant to seed long-term cultural change rather than provide a one-off fix.

On policy specifics, officials noted that updated guidance due to roll out from September will require pupils to be equipped to recognise misogyny, understand its links to violence against women and girls, and grasp the importance of challenging it. The changes come alongside the broader VAWG package and reflect a shift toward early intervention in schools as a cornerstone of prevention.

Separately, the Home Office announced a ban on "nudification" tools that use generative AI to turn real people into fake nude images without their permission. How exactly the ban will work remains to be clarified, but officials said they will work with technology companies to implement nude-image detection filters so that children cannot take, view, or share nude images.

Reaction to the plan was swift and mixed. Dame Nicole Jacobs, the England and Wales Domestic Abuse Commissioner, said the commitments do not go far enough and that the level of investment falls short, even as she acknowledged the strategy’s scale.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticized the measures as "silly gimmicks," telling the BBC the plans had been rolled out in part because the government spent the summer watching the Netflix drama Adolescence, which she argued highlighted the influence of social media on teenage boys. She urged instead a focus on policing and immigration concerns, arguing that addressing cultures where women are treated as third-class citizens would be a smarter starting point. Prime Minister Keir Starmer stressed that the focus on perpetrators should not be diminished, but that tackling misogyny and gender inequality at its root required a broader, aspirational vision for boys and men. Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips called violence against women and girls a "national emergency," saying the strategy aims to be "so ambitious that we change culture." Liberal Democrats spokesperson for women and equalities Marie Goldman welcomed the teacher training but warned that without steps to properly moderate online content the plan could fail.

Some in the education sector welcomed the momentum but urged care in implementation. Sukhjot Dhami, principal at Beacon Hill Academy in Dudley, said the challenge was ensuring that the £20 million is spent wisely and in partnership with schools already leading the way. He acknowledged schools were already identifying misogyny but emphasized the need for sustained support and collaboration with districts.

The package sits within a broader VAWG strategy that includes the deployment of specialist investigators to every police force to oversee rape and sexual offences cases, the wider rollout of domestic abuse protection orders, and a funding boost for safe housing and NHS support for survivors. The government frames these measures as a cross-government effort to marshal resources at local and national levels to prevent violence and support victims.

Additional context from researchers and advocacy groups underscores the scale of the challenge. Nearly 40% of teenagers in relationships report some form of abuse, according to the charity Reducing the Risk. Online influence is also a factor: a YouGov poll found that nearly one in five boys aged 13 to 15 hold a positive view of the self-proclaimed misogynist influencer Andrew Tate, highlighting the online dynamics policymakers say must be addressed alongside in-school efforts.

Education leaders and unions have welcomed the focus on preventive education and staff training but have cautioned that the strategy should complement, not replace, existing child protection measures and online-safety safeguards. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the school leaders’ union NAHT, said the plan is positive for recognizing the importance of training and support for staff, but warned that schools are not a silver bullet. Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, called for concrete steps to curb online misogyny routed through social media algorithms.

As the plan moves from announcement to rollout, ministers say schools selected for the teacher-training pilot will be announced next year, with a nationwide expansion contingent on evaluating effectiveness and securing ongoing support from partners and communities. Officials stress that the goals are long-term and require coordinated action across education, policing, health, and digital safety to reshape norms and reduce violence against women and girls over the coming decade.