Government launches National Taskforce for Tackling Misogyny

• Minister for Women and Equalities launches national taskforce to tackle the rise of misogyny
• Government, local leaders and experts will look at misogyny prevention across society including community and the workplaces so women and girls no longer need to face harmful attitudes
• Bridget Phillipson: Government will lead from the front to shift the dial and send misogynistic attitudes back to the dark ages.

Women and girls will be better protected from harmful and dangerous attitudes, as a new national taskforce sets out to root out misogyny from across society chaired by the Minister for Women and Equalities, Bridget Phillipson.

The taskforce will bring together experts from across the country, along with ministers and local leaders, to discuss the lived experiences of women and girls ensuring government policy is shaped by those most affected by misogyny.

It will ask how the government can go further to tackle harmful attitudes wherever they emerge, including online, in workplaces, and in communities, so that women and girls can live their lives without fear of misogyny.

Members will include representatives from women's organisations, academia, and local leaders, with the taskforce complementing existing cross-government work to halve violence against women and girls. They will focus on reducing harmful attitudes and shifting social culture, looking at what is working nationally and internationally. The first meeting of the new taskforce will focus on young people, with it later looking at workplaces, digital spaces and social cohesion. 

Bridget Phillipson MP, Minister for Women and Equalities, said:

Before I entered politics, I ran a refuge for women fleeing domestic abuse. I've seen first-hand the devastating impact on women and girls when harmful attitudes are tolerated and left unchallenged.

No woman should have to make her world smaller or curb her ambitions out of fear and making that a reality is everyone's business.

As a whole society, we can and must be better. With political leadership and the best experts from across the country, we will shift the dial on the poisonous attitudes that blight women's lives, turn evidence into action, and send misogynistic attitudes back to the dark ages where they belong.

Gary Barker, Equimundo's CEO and Founder said:

We're honored to be part of the National Taskforce for Tackling Misogyny. Our research in the UK and globally shows that misogynistic attitudes are increasing but also that they can change when men and boys are engaged as true allies in that process. 

Online and offline, too many girls and women experience harassment and abuse at the hands of men, while men and boys are also harmed by the bullying and homophobia that often accompany misogyny. 

At Equimundo, we believe that making the world safer for women and girls requires engaging all of us, and that men and boys, too, benefit from a world where women and girls can live free from harm and violence. 

This is a generational opportunity to bring men and boys into the journey toward full equality and respect for women a journey that needs them, and that can make their own lives better, too.

Deniz Uur, Deputy Director at the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said:

We are pleased to see the National Taskforce for Tackling Misogyny focus in on tackling the root causes of violence against women and girls (VAWG). This is especially important in supporting meaningful delivery of the VAWG Strategy, given the focus on prevention; and meeting the Government's aim to halve VAWG in a decade.

In order to enable the work of the Taskforce to be effective, we hope to see meaningful commitment and engagement by ministers across all Government departments.

We strongly welcome the Taskforce's consideration of how the weaponisation of VAWG fuels harm, misinformation and division in our communities, which ultimately undermines efforts to end and prevent VAWG, and ensure that victims and survivors can access support.

Tackling gender inequality and misogyny benefits our society as a whole, and is everyone's business.

Soma Sara, CEO of Everyone's Invited said:

Everyone's Invited welcomes the government's plans to introduce a Misogyny Taskforce. Sexual violence has long existed in our society, but the growth of dangerous online spaces and the rise of AI have turbocharged the scale and speed of harm.

Over 53,000 survivors have shared their experiences with us through Everyone's Invited's online safe space. For too many, misogyny has profoundly devastated lives.

We are particularly relieved to see a commitment to prevention through education. Young people need the tools, language and confidence to understand, question and challenge misogyny online and offline before it becomes normalised.

The voices of survivors and young people must be at the heart of this work, and we look forward to working with the Government to ensure this Taskforce delivers meaningful, lasting change.

Felicity Oswald, CEO of Girlguiding said:

Girlguiding is honoured to join the Minister for Women and Equalities' new taskforce to tackle misogyny. Girls tell us they are facing rising levels of sexism and misogyny online, in public and in schools. That's why we are calling for more education around healthy relationships, gender stereotypes, early warning signs and consent.

We welcome the opportunity to bring girls' experiences and perspectives directly into discussions with government. Girls are experts in their own lives, and it is vital that their voices are heard when decisions are made that impact them.

Preventing misogyny before it escalates is essential. Nearly 1 million adults experience sexual assault, 1.4 million face stalking, and nearly 4 million endure domestic abuse in a single year. Tackling the source is the only viable path forward. 

This new taskforce comes ahead of further announcement expected from the government this week to step up work to halve violence and women and girls, and is the latest step by this government to use the full power of the state to tackle these vile crimes. 

Last month, the government partnered with the ENOUGH campaign at the Reading and Leeds festivals through powerful messaging raising awareness of abusive behaviours displayed over the weekend. 

The Prime Minister also recently announced that all police forces in England and Wales will have specialist rape and sexual offence teams in place by December 2027  a year and a half ahead of the original deadline.

The government is also providing a £16 million package to tackle harmful behaviours and attitudes before they escalate, which aims to educate pupils on healthy relationships and train staff to tackle misogyny. Alongside a further £10 million fund to deliver intervention programmes for children actively using harm.

The government also published statutory relationships, sex and health education guidance for schools, challenging myths about women and relationships that are spread online in the manosphere.