Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Accepted
Paragraph: 42
Improve the teaching of honour-based abuse within Relationships, Sex and Health Education settings
Recommendation
The Government is currently reviewing the content of relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) taught in schools. It is clear from the evidence we received that the teaching of honour-based abuse is currently inadequate. The ongoing review of RSHE should consider how the teaching of honour-based abuse should be improved across educational settings.
Government Response Summary
The government states that honour-based abuse is already taught as part of the ‘being safe topic’ in RSHE, with specific teacher training modules covering it. The ongoing RSHE review is assessing whether overall coverage is appropriate and can be strengthened on various topics, but does not specifically commit to improving HBA teaching as part of the review.
Paragraph Reference:
42
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The review of the RSHE statutory guidance, originally planned for September 2023, has been brought forward due to concerns about inappropriate materials being used to teach sex education in schools. The first phase of the review of the RSHE statutory guidance started in March 2023. The review is looking at whether the coverage of the statutory guidance is right, both in terms of ensuring teaching is safe and age-appropriate and whether it can be strengthened on certain topics, such as suicide prevention, sexual harassment and the dangers of vaping. The existing statutory guidance includes content on delivery and teaching strategies and DfE has contracted with IFF Research to undertake quantitative and qualitative research to understand the quality of implementation, including teacher confidence in teaching the statutory requirements. This research will help us to understand barriers and facilities to quality implementation, to inform any further support offers. We anticipate that the final report from IFF Research will be published in early 2024. HBA is taught about as part of the ‘being safe topic’ which says pupils should know the concepts of, and laws relating to forced marriage, honour-based violence and FGM. The Department for Education’s teacher training module Teacher training: being safe - GOV. UK (www.gov.uk) includes the detail of what teachers should be covering, including types of honour based violence, forces marriage, forced marriage and the law and how to get help.