New government must act to safeguard quality and inclusive Relationships, Sex and Health Education

Today (Thursday 11th July) marks the final day of an 8 week public consultation on draft Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) guidance published by the previous government.

Last year, the previous government announced its plans to review RSHE guidance for schools and teachers following claims made in Parliament and the media – claims which have not only been criticised for being fuelled by anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, but have also been contested as factually inaccurate.

Since March 2023, we have been raising significant concerns about this review and about the subsequent draft guidance published in May 2024, which we believe undermine any commitment to tackling and preventing violence against women and girls (VAWG) and will put children and young people at greater risk.

To mark the end of the consultation period we have joined over 100 organisations in a joint statement calling on the new government to scrap this version of the draft guidance, and start a fresh – focusing on the needs of children and young people and supporting teachers to deliver a high-quality, inclusive curriculum.

We have also submitted evidence to the public consultation and created a VAWG briefing which lays out our concerns to government, including:

• Shutting down conversations about relationships and sex to supposedly ‘protect children’, when we know that conversely, this stops children from being able to identify unhealthy relationships, pushes sexual abuse into the shadows and leaves children less able to find help if they need it.
• Worrying denial of LGBT+ lives and realities, reminiscent of section 28.
• Lack of an intersectional approach to RSHE, despite the specific ways Black girls are subjected to racialised sexual harassment, violence and abuse, and the disproportionate punishments meted out to Black children.
• An overall lack of coherence in what can be taught, and when.
• A failure to take a preventative approach.

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

“Quality Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) based on consent and equality is absolutely critical for preventing the epidemic of violence against women and girls. If our new government is to deliver on its mission to halve VAWG, it is essential that it scraps the existing draft RSHE guidance, which will put children and young people at greater risk. We must create space for open, honest and educational conversations from a younger age to enable a sea change in the societal attitudes that tolerate and normalise violence against women and girls”.

ENDS

Media contact

Sinead Geoghegan, Head of Communications, media@evaw.org.uk