UK to train teachers to tackle misogyny in schools under long-awaited VAWG strategy

The government on Wednesday unveiled a long-awaited plan to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade, including a package aimed at tackling misogyny in schools. The plan centers on training teachers to spot and challenge misogynistic attitudes in the classroom and could see high-risk pupils enrolled in behavioral courses designed to address prejudice against women and girls. The measures are part of a broader Violence Against Women and Girls strategy that has faced repeated delays.

Under the package, schools in England will receive targeted help to prevent the roots of misogyny from taking hold. Teachers will learn how to discuss consent and the risks of sharing intimate images, and how to identify positive role models and counter unhealthy myths about women and relationships. High-risk students would be directed to extra care and support, including behavioral courses, while a new helpline will offer teenagers confidential support for concerns about abuse in their relationships. The government says the aim is to intervene early and reduce the likelihood that young men become violent abusers. The funding for the package amounts to £20 million, with £16 million coming from the taxpayer and £4 million sourced from philanthropists and partners, over a three-year spending period. Pilots of the schools training will begin next year, with a goal that all secondary schools include healthy relationship education by the end of this Parliament.

Reaction to the plan was mixed. The domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, Dame Nicole Jacobs, said the commitments did not go far enough, noting that while the strategy acknowledges the scale of the challenge, the level of investment falls short. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticized the move as gimmicks and argued that more police officers were needed, saying the government should focus on policing and other hard measures rather than educational content alone. She also claimed the steps were rolled out in part because the government had spent the summer watching the Netflix drama Adolescence that depicts social media’s impact on teenage boys.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government should address misogyny and inequality at its root, while avoiding diminishing the focus on perpetrators, and he emphasized the need for a positive, aspirational vision for boys and men. Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips described violence against women and girls as a national emergency and said the strategy aims to be so ambitious that it changes culture. Liberal Democrats spokeswoman for women and equalities Marie Goldman welcomed the training for teachers but stressed that without steps to properly moderate online content, the plan would struggle to succeed.

The Home Office also announced a broad policy strand to curb the spread of nude images created using generative AI. The government said it would work with tech companies to deploy nudity detection filters that would make it harder for children to take, view or share nude images, though many details of how this will be implemented were not yet clear. Phillips asserted that the government would pursue practical tools with tech platforms to prevent online harms, while acknowledging the policy required further clarification.

Education officials said participation in the teacher training pilots would be voluntary for now, with expansion contingent on evaluating the program’s effectiveness. Ministers said the full program would complement broader VAWG measures announced alongside the plan, including specialist investigators assigned to every police force to oversee rape and sexual offence cases and the wider rollout of domestic abuse protection orders to help keep victims safe.

The strategy also includes substantial protections for survivors, with NHS support enhancements and a push to fund safe housing for domestic abuse victims. The government said it would deploy the full force of the state across local and national agencies to prevent violence and improve support services, while continuing to seek partnerships with philanthropists and other partners to widen the program’s reach. A body of existing guidance already requires secondary pupils to learn about consent, the harms of pornography, and that sharing indecent images is a crime; updated guidance due to roll out in September will require pupils to be equipped to recognize misogyny and understand its links to violence against women and girls, and to challenge it.

Sukhjot Dhami, principal at Beacon Hill Academy in Dudley, said the plan was a step in the right direction but highlighted a practical challenge: ensuring the new funding is spent wisely and in partnership with schools already leading the way. Education unions welcomed the emphasis on staff training but cautioned that the measures must be supported by online content moderation and broader anti-misogyny efforts online.

Officials emphasized that schools are only one part of a wider response. The strategy includes a package of measures across the state and local government to prevent VAWG and support victims, with the aim of driving cultural change over time. The announcement comes as the government seeks to demonstrate progress after repeatedly delaying the plan, and as ministers push to show tangible steps in education, policing, and public health to stem violence against women and girls.