Movember responds to the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy

Movember welcomes the publication of the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, which sets out a 10-year, cross-government plan to halve violence against women and girls. The Strategy outlines a range of measures focused on prevention, early intervention and strengthening the response to violence and abuse.

Breaking the cycle before it starts

A central focus of the Strategy is breaking intergenerational cycles of abuse by supporting children and young people early, challenging misogyny and harmful attitudes, and equipping families, schools and communities to intervene before harm escalates. This prevention-led approach reflects the evidence cited throughout the Strategy and the role of early support, education and community-based intervention in reducing risk.

Tackling the online world's dark side

Commitments on online safety feature strongly across the strategy and Action Plan. These include measures to reduce exposure to harmful and misogynistic content, strengthen media literacy, and address violent and abusive online influences. The Strategy also sets out further work to tackle tech-facilitated harms, including pornography-related risks and sexually explicit deepfakes, informed by the evidence base and Baroness Bertin's Independent Pornography Review.

Teaching respect from the classroom up

The Strategy includes commitments to education on healthy and respectful relationships, consent and gender equality. This includes updated statutory RSHE guidance and support for schools to integrate learning about positive relationships and violence against women and girls across school life, rather than limiting this learning to RSHE alone. Embedding this learning across school life supports schools to foster cultures where harmful attitudes and behaviours are consistently challenged. Efforts to promote positive conceptions of masculinity, without stigmatising boys, play an important role in prevention.

Men's health and safety go hand in hand

Clear links are made between the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy and the delivery of the Men's Health Strategy, which recognises men and boys as both perpetrators and victims and survivors of abuse and violence. The accompanying Men and Boys Explanatory Note provides further detail on how men and boys are considered throughout delivery of the Strategy, including actions to improve identification, support and service provision for male victims and survivors.

Moving forward together

Movember looks forward to continuing to work with Government, schools, community organisations and partners to support prevention-focused approaches that strengthen mental wellbeing, promote healthy relationships and contribute to safer communities.