On December 18, 2025, the UK government unveiled a sweeping new strategy aimed at tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG), with a bold promise: halve the rates of such violence within the next decade. At the heart of this ambitious plan is a nationwide push to make healthy relationships education mandatory in every secondary school in England—and to equip teachers with the tools to spot and challenge misogynistic attitudes before they take root.
The strategy, announced by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and VAWG minister Jess Phillips, comes with a £20 million funding package—£16 million sourced from the government and £4 million from philanthropic partners. It marks a significant escalation in the government’s efforts, which have already included introducing specialist rape and sexual offences investigators to every police force, boosting NHS support for survivors, and providing councils with an extra £19 million to secure safe housing for domestic abuse survivors, according to BBC and Sky News.
"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," Sir Keir Starmer stated, as quoted by Metro and BBC. "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."
The new measures go beyond classroom lessons. Teachers will receive specialist training to talk to students not only about healthy relationships and consent, but also the dangers of sharing intimate images, identifying positive role models, and challenging unhealthy myths about women and relationships. Schools will be asked to spot early signs of misogyny in boys and steer them away from toxic online influences—a response to research showing that more than 40% of young men reportedly hold a positive view of controversial online influencer Andrew Tate, as reported by Sky News.
Department for Education-commissioned research found that 70% of secondary school teachers surveyed said their school had actively dealt with sexual violence and/or harassment between children. Nearly 40% of teenagers in relationships are victims of abuse, according to the domestic abuse charity Reducing the Risk, with online influencers partly blamed for fueling these troubling attitudes.
To further support early intervention, the government will launch a new helpline for teenagers worried about their own behavior in relationships. Children who show harmful behavior toward relatives or in relationships will be signed up for behavior change programs, and high-risk students will receive extra care and support, including behavioral courses specifically targeting prejudice against women and girls, as detailed by BBC and Metro.
The rollout will begin with a pilot scheme in selected schools in 2026, with the aim of making healthy relationship sessions mandatory in all secondary schools by the end of this Parliament in 2029. The government says it is working closely with philanthropists and other partners on an innovation fund to support these efforts.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, drawing from her own experience working in a refuge for women experiencing domestic abuse, emphasized the importance of early intervention. "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," she told Metro.
Police and social services will also receive new guidance on teenage relationships to better tackle abuse, and the legal framework for domestic abuse will be reviewed to address the experiences of teenagers. This review follows the tragic murder of 15-year-old Holly Newton by her stalker ex-boyfriend in Hexham, Northumberland, in January 2023, highlighting the urgent need for younger people to be recognized as potential victims of domestic abuse.
Despite the government’s determined rhetoric, many campaigners and experts have called for more robust action and sustainable investment. Dame Nicole Jacobs, the domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, welcomed the focus on prevention but criticized the level of investment. "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," she said, as reported by Metro and Sky News. She also pointed out that overburdened schools are not being given the infrastructure needed to safeguard child victims of domestic abuse.
Claire Waxman, the incoming victims commissioner, echoed these concerns, warning that "victim services are not an optional extra to this strategy—they must be the backbone of it. Without clear, sustainable investment and cross-government leadership, I am concerned we run the risk of the strategy amounting to less than the sum of its parts; a wish list of tactical measures rather than a bold, unifying strategic framework."
Others in the education sector have responded with cautious optimism. Sukhjot Dhami, principal of Beacon Hill Academy in Dudley, noted that many schools have already been delivering healthy relationships and consent education for years. "The challenge isn't starting from scratch: it's ensuring that this £20 million is spent wisely and in partnership with schools already leading the way," Dhami told BBC.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the school leaders’ union NAHT, welcomed the government’s recognition of the need for training and support for school staff but stressed that "schools are just part of the solution," with government, health, social care, police, and parents all having a significant role to play. Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, called for "effective measures to prevent at source the spread of online misogynistic content which is served up to young people by social media algorithms."
Survivors of domestic abuse have also weighed in. Nicola Mclafferty, a victim of domestic violence, advocated for more direct engagement with students. "Survivors of domestic abuse, men or women, should go into assemblies and speak to the children about it, tell them a bit of your lived experience, enough that it's not going to scare them but be quite factual. There needs to be more people talking and they need to know," she told BBC.
As part of the wider strategy, the government has introduced specialist investigators in every police force to oversee rape and sexual offence cases. These staff will be trained to understand both the mindset of abusers and the needs of victims. The rollout of domestic abuse protection orders—court-issued bans on contacting victims, visiting their homes, or posting harmful content online—has also been expanded, with breaches constituting a criminal offence.
To raise public awareness, two television adverts featuring sports personalities and celebrities will launch, calling for an end to violence against women and girls. The government’s multi-pronged approach, from education to law enforcement to public campaigns, is designed to tackle the problem from every angle.
Jess Phillips, the minister for violence against women and girls, captured the urgency of the moment: "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."
While the government’s strategy has won cautious praise, its ultimate success will hinge on the depth of its commitment and the resources it is willing to mobilize—because, as many campaigners have pointed out, only a truly whole-society approach can drive lasting change.
