- MPs call for specific Government strategy for engaging with
boys and young men in schools on topics of sexual harassment and
gender-based violence as part of RHSE review
- Relationships and sex education should be made compulsory in
post-16 educational settings
- Committee calls for sufficient funding and support for
teachers to deliver safeguarding effectively as well as RSHE
The Women and Equalities Committee finds that sexual harassment
and sexual violence continues to be a scourge in schools in a new
report published today. The Committee says it is saddening that
Ofsted and the schools they inspect only acknowledged the
seriousness of the sexual violence problem in schools following
public testimonies of thousands of school-aged children,
referring to the Everyone’s Invited movement.
Whilst Ofsted did not act quickly enough in undertaking its 2021
review, the Committee welcomes its conclusions and calls on the
Government to ensure that all schools have the funding they
require to safeguard children and young people effectively. It
also asks Ofsted to investigate the level of abuse experienced by
female staff in schools as part of its inspections.
The Committee calls for relationships, sex and health education
(RSHE) be made compulsory in sixth forms and colleges. The
Committee concludes that the current lack of compulsory RSHE
post-16 leaves young people making their first steps in the adult
world under-supported and less equipped to navigate potentially
harmful and dangerous situations.
The Committee also asks the Government, as part of its RHSE
review, to develop a specific strategy for engaging with boys and
young men in schools on topics of sexual harassment and
gender-based violence. Evidence to the inquiry suggested current
relationships and sex education is less applicable and engaging
for boys. It also found some schools were not sufficiently
promoting gender equality or acknowledging the problem of
violence against women and girls.
The Committee highlights the role of education in preventing
violence against women and girls. It calls for a RSHE curriculum
that places a greater focus on boys and young men. It says there
should be training for all teachers how to engage boys and young
men in conversations that challenge prevailing gender norms and
ideas of masculinity.
The Committee says the delivery of RSHE in primary and secondary
schools has been inconsistent. The report says, “in too many
cases, schools lack the funding and time to deliver RSHE
effectively”. MPs call for further funding and support from the
Government for teachers. It also highlights that any developments
in policy, as a result of the RHSE review, should support
effectively the Government’s commitment to tackling sexual
harassment and violence in schools and colleges.
Chair of the Committee, Rt Hon
Caroline Nokes MP,
said:
“For far too long too many people in positions of
authority have failed to notice the problem of sexual harassment
in schools, of girls and female staff. It has taken the
testimonies of students to prompt an official response. It is
incumbent on school leaders, inspectors and the Government not to
let them down.
“Whilst there have been some positive steps since the
Everyone’s Invited movement exposed how widespread the problem
is, there is clearly more to do to improve safeguarding and
education.
“Education is a powerful tool in
combatting harmful attitudes towards women and girls and
preventing violence. It is crucial that mandatory relationships,
sex and health education continues past secondary school. We also
need a specific focus on engaging boys and young men in RHSE and
we expect the Government to consider this in its ongoing RSHE
review.”
Key recommendations
Relationships, Health and Sex Education
- Extend compulsory RSHE to young people in post-16 educational
settings
- Develop a specific strategy for engaging with boys and young
men in primary and secondary schools on the topics of sexual
harassment and gender-based violence
- Ensure that teachers and teachers in training have the
funding and time they require to learn how to deliver RSHE
effectively
Safeguarding
- Ensure all schools have the funding they require to safeguard
children and young people effectively.
- Evaluate implementation of Keeping Children Safe Education
guidance in the next six months.
Technology
- Head teachers must do more to address harmful uses of mobile
phones in school such as cyberflashing pornographic images or
Airdropping nude images
- Strengthen Government guidance on the harmful effects of
technology on attitudes towards women and girls.
Universities
- Office for Students should implement a new condition of
registration to place mandatory obligations on universities to
tackle sexual harassment and sexual violence
- Develop a nationwide sexual harassment and sexual violence
awareness campaign that particularly targets male university
students
- Compulsory evidence-based bystander intervention programmes
for all first-year university students
ENDS
Notes to editors
- The embargoed PDF of the report is attached to this email.
A full list of recommendations and conclusions can be found on
page 33.
- The inquiry was part of the Committee’s umbrella inquiry into
Preventing Violence Against
Women and Girls.
