UK government strategy to protect women and girls from violence seriously underfunded'

"Presenting the strategy in the House of Commons on Thursday, Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister who has played a central role in developing the policies, said the strategy was backed by 1bn of funding and was more than a document. It is a call from a government that recognises this as a national emergency, a government that is willing to back up its words with action, she said."

"Ending violence against women and girls is the work of us all It will take all of society to step up and end the epidemic of abuse and violence that shames our country. The document spells out cross-governmental plans to address VAWG by focusing on prevention and measures such as sending experts to secondary schools to educate children about consent and the dangers of sharing explicit images. Teachers will also be able to send young people at risk of causing harm on behavioural courses."

The government launched a strategy to combat violence against women and girls prioritising prevention, education and perpetrator accountability. The strategy emphasizes teaching pupils about healthy relationships and the dangers of pornography, deploying experts to secondary schools, and equipping teachers to intervene when they witness worrying behaviour. Teachers will be able to refer young people at risk of causing harm to behavioural courses. The strategy pledges £1bn in funding but allocates only £3m to a teacher training pilot. Campaigners warn that specialist support organisations face a funding crisis and that the proposed funding falls far short of infrastructure needs.

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