Teachers are being left to “pick up the pieces” as they try to combat the threat of pupils being influenced by “dangerous misogynistic ideology” being spread throughout schools, an expert has warned on a podcast hosted by a senior MP.
A “whole-school approach” is needed to stamp out attitudes that normalise abuse and violence against women and girls, according to Andrea Simon, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition.
“Many young people are being influenced and potentially, radicalised into dangerous misogynistic ideology, which is playing out in schools, with teachers often left to pick up the pieces,” she told MP Caroline Nokes, chair of the Commons Women and Equalities Committee.
Speaking on the Committee Corridor podcast, Ms Simon also said that parents are “just feeling like they’re not equipped to arm their young people with what they need to stay safe and to turn away from some of those influences”.
In June, her coalition published It’s About Time, a report that called for a whole-school approach to ending violence against women and girls.
In July, the Women and Equalities Committee published a strongly worded report, which concludes that sexual harassment and abuse of female pupils and staff continues to be a “scourge” in schools.
With a government review underway into relationships and sex education (RSE), the curriculum must look at the scenario for young people today, Ms Simon told Ms Nokes.
Young people say the current offering is “ineffective”, she claimed. Pupils wanted to know more about things like the power imbalances in relationships, pornography and LGBTQ+, she added.
She said: “We think that this should be done via a whole-school approach to preventing violence against women and girls, which focuses on prevention, education and safeguarding.”
The Women and Equalities Committee has launched a new inquiry looking at the escalation of violence against women and girls.
On this, Ms Simon said early intervention for sexual offenders was “really vital”, and that RSE in schools is “based on principles of consent and equality”.
