A Different World is Possible! Preventing VAWG

Violence against women and girls is not inevitable. We need urgent action to ensure that all schools play their part in creating a safer world for women and girls.

Violence against women and girls has been described by Kofi Annan as ‘perhaps the most pervasive violation of human rights across the globe', yet it is entirely preventable.

  • Nearly one in three 16-18 year-old girls have experienced unwanted sexual touching at school in the UK.
  • It is estimated over 20,000 girls under 15 could be at high risk of female genital mutilation in England and Wales each year.
  • 1 in 2 boys & 1 in 3 girls think there are some circumstances when it is okay to hit a woman or force her to have sex.
  • 1 in 3 teenage girls has experienced sexual violence from a partner.
  • In 2010 the Forced Marriage Unit received over 1735 calls to its helpline on suspected/potential forced marriage - 86% were from women.
  • 77% of young people do not feel they have enough information and support to deal with physical or sexual violence

One of the keys to prevention is education, and we are calling on schools to play their part in ending violence against women and girls.

A Different World is Possible!

With the support of Comic Relief, the End Violence Against Women Coalition is delivering a comprehensive programme of policy and campaigning work on the prevention of violence against women and girls (VAWG).

Our report, ‘A Different World is Possible: A call for long-term and targeted action to prevent violence against women and girls', calls on schools, local authorities, public bodies and Westminster Government departments to step up their efforts to prevent violence against women and girls. We are calling for: 

  • Michael Gove to tell all schools that this is a national priority Report Cover
  • All teachers to receive training on violence against women and girls including domestic and sexual violence, forced marriage and female genital mutilation
  • The National Curriculum must include sex and relationships education which discusses sexual consent and respectful relationships
  • Ofsted should inspect schools on how well they are responding to violence against women and girls and all schools to collect and report data on violence against girls
  • All schools to implement ‘whole school' policies on violence against women and girls to create a school culture of respect and equality
  • Central and local government must also play their part by funding women's services and running public awareness campaigns

The report's second half, ‘Promising practices to prevent violence against women and girls,' sets out 15 innovative case studies of 'promising' prevention programmes including workshops with boys in schools, drama groups, enabling girls at risk of gang violence to access decision makers, and training ‘bystanders' to intervene to challenge the attitudes of their peers.

Some of our other achievements over the first 12 months of the Prevention Programme were:

  • A poll on sexual harassment in UK schools, released in October 2010.
  • EVAW Prevention Network: Our network brings together VAWG prevention experts and practitioners to develop a consistent and coordinated voice on VAWG prevention. 
  • We Are Man - Our short film challenging young men's attitudes to rape

Take Action!Diff World Campaign Postcard

Take action now to create a different world for women and girls! Our campaign postcard and template letters can be downloaded here.

To subscribe to the EVAW Prevention E-Bulletin or to find out more please email holly.shepherd@evaw.org.uk.