GOVERNMENT plans to tackle violence against women and girls were welcomed by the National Education Union today.

The plans include all children in secondary schools being taught about healthy relationships, with teachers trained to spot worrying behaviour in boys early on with high-risk pupils to be sent on behavioural courses.

NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “The NEU welcomes the government’s recognition of the vital role that schools and teachers have to play in challenging misogyny and preventing the attitudes that create violence against women and girls. 

“We think teachers must be given appropriate time and space in the timetable to do this important work. 

“We are pleased to see the government strategy identifies the specific new challenges posed by the impact of social media. 

“The NEU believes that tech giants must take responsibility for the harms and trends caused by social media, and public contracts should not reward platforms that allow misogyny and hate to flourish.”

And Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said training must be for teachers across all phases of education and he highlighted that schools are just “part of the solution,” with government, health, social care, police and parents all having a “significant contribution to make too.”

Home Office Minister Jess Phillips said that the government was “really, really focused on prevention” of the scourge of violence against women and girls.

“One in eight women were victims of violence against women and girls last year and so I’m a bit sick, of just trying to put nicer plasters on to ever growing scars,” she told Times Radio.

Measures already announced as part of the strategy also include introducing specialist rape and sexual offences investigators to every police force, better support for survivors in the NHS, and a £19 million funding boost for councils to provide safe housing for domestic abuse survivors.

But the new victims’ commissioner, Claire Waxman, warned at a “deeply concerning” lack of funding to underpin the strategy.

She said: “Ultimately, the success of this strategy hinges on whether delivery partners are equipped to succeed.

“The strategy introduces welcome measures in schools and the NHS which will, by design, drive up disclosures and referrals to police and victim services. 

“Yet front-line services are already overstretched and struggling to meet need, and the criminal justice system remains in crisis. Funding is critical.”

Andrea Simon, Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), said:

“We applaud the focus on education as the cornerstone of any plan that aims to halve VAWG in a decade. Prevention is always better than waiting to respond after harm is done.

We are keen to see young people finally get the relationships and sex education they deserve, and for the attitudes that underpin harmful behaviours to be challenged and explored at the collective level, through education and awareness-raising, rather than interventions focusing on singling out individuals.

Tackling gender inequality not only benefits women and girls but all of society. It is essential that these plans are informed by the expertise of the specialist VAWG sector. We look forward to working with the government to build on the proposals laid out today.”