The government should focus on engaging boys in relationships and sex education lessons at school to help tackle the continuing problem of sexual harassment and violence against pupils, MPs have said.
The Commons Women and Equalities Committee said relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) should be made compulsory in sixth forms and colleges as it warned that young people are making their first steps into the adult world “under-supported” to navigate potentially “dangerous” situations.
Sexual harassment and sexual violence continue to be “a scourge” in schools, with many girls and women “feeling powerless,” a report has found.
The cross-party group of MPs said engagement with boys and young men was “crucial” for tackling sexual harassment and sexual violence in educational settings, but evidence to the committee suggested that RSHE lessons being taught in schools are “less applicable” and engaging for boys.
The report calls on the government to 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.
It added that all teachers should be trained on how to engage male pupils in conversations that “challenge prevailing gender norms”, ideas of masculinity, and attitudes towards women and girls. The committee heard that some schools were not sufficiently promoting gender equality, or acknowledging the problem of violence against girls.
