Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 30
30
Deferred
VAWG Strategy lacks specific provisions to address harmful attitudes among boys beyond RSE.
Conclusion
We asked DfE specifically what role boys are playing in the prevention work it was delivering through the VAWG Strategy. DfE told us that there is not a part of the new VAWG Strategy specifically designed to address harmful attitudes amongst boys.71 DfE told us that it had expanded the new draft guidance on RSE to include misogynistic online influencers, and that it is an expectation that boys will be educated on this. When asked what else it will be doing beyond the RSE curriculum, DfE told us that it could be working with male role models through youth services, social workers, youth offending teams and secondary school teachers. When asked how this work will feed into the future Strategy and mission, DfE said it is something that could be explored with MHCLG and MoJ.72 Responding to tech-enabled violence against women and girls
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the committee's observations, stating that the new VAWG Strategy, due by September 2025, will integrate prevention, education, and early intervention to address harmful attitudes and behaviours among children and young people. Further specifics will be detailed in the forthcoming strategy.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
6.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: September 2025 6.2 The new VAWG Strategy will place prevention at the very heart of the government’s approach to halving VAWG in a decade. A key part of the Home Office’s approach will be improving the policing, criminal and family justice response. However, enforcement alone is not enough. 6.3 The preventative measures in the forthcoming VAWG Strategy will be designed to achieve long-term change, underpinned by the Theory of Change. This includes challenging the societal norms, attitudes and misconceptions about relationships and consent, how children are educated in school, in communities and online, and identifying those early risk factors in children and families so that fewer children go on to perpetrate abuse or become victims themselves. Prevention of VAWG is a wide-reaching area requiring cross-government effort across DfE, DCMS, MHCLG, DSIT and MoJ, and others. 6.4 The review process for the Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) statutory guidance is almost complete and new guidance will be published in the coming months. The Home Office and the Department for Education have worked closely with a range of stakeholders including those who are working to end VAWG to get the guidance right. 6.5 The Home Office has met with young people who shared their experiences as well as contributing ideas on practical steps schools should take on these matters. Ministers in the Home Office and Department for Education are continuing to work together to ensure that future funding will deliver a positive and lasting impact for children and young people. More detail on this joint work between the Department for Education and the Home Office will be set out in the forthcoming VAWG Strategy 6.6 The Home Office will also continue to work closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to enhance media literacy among children and parents, so that they are educated to critically assess and be aware of content they are viewing online, including misogynistic content. 6.7 The government’s Opportunity Mission is also dedicated to setting up every child with the best start in life, helping all children to achieve and thrive and creating environments in which young people feel they belong - these are the best available tools for combating violence and prejudice, including misogyny. 6.8 The implementation of the actions outlined in this response by September 2025 is contingent on the publication of the Tackling VAWG Strategy within that timeframe.