In 2021, women in the UK continue to be disproportionately affected by gender based violence, inequality, and discrimination. While the government has worked to mitigate these concerning trends, namely through the Home Office’s VAWG strategy, women and girls continue to experience violence and domestic abuse at alarming rates.

Since 2019, 96% of deep fake pornography disproportionately affected women. While the Online Safety Bill 2023 aims to protect people from digital trafficking, women and girls continue to be the main target for this harassment.

A recent Ofsted report’s survey of over 800 children and young people, aged 13 and above, highlighted the ‘normalised’ culture of sexual harassment in schools, and revealed that 88% of students reported being sent pictures or videos they did not want to see, and 73% reported that pictures or videos that they sent had been shared more widely without their knowledge or consent. Part of this report’s recommendations is the introduction of consent education for children and young people, particularly on the complex topic of sharing and sending images online. Hence, In June 2021, we at Shout Out UK (SOUK) also surveyed 141 young people, aged 16-25, asking them whether there truly is a need for better consent education at schools. Nearly 93% of respondents answered with ‘yes’. These findings highlight the necessity for enhanced measures to tackle this state of sexual harassment in schools, and we have thus developed our own signature Consent Education programme to do just that.

Our expertise in working with this age group comes from our dedication to protecting and amplifying the state of democracy, through our Political and Media Literacy programmes for young people, which we have been delivering throughout the UK since 2015. Having worked with over 1000 schools and colleges, we know firsthand how to engage young people and build their confidence to discuss controversial topics.