
A survivor of domestic abuse as a teenager who launched a major campaign for educational reform has delivered her 100,000-strong Change.org petition to 10 Downing Street.
Faustine Petron, now a University of Cambridge student, is a young survivor of a violent and abusive relationship that started when she was 16. She launched a campaign to extend Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) to 16 to 18-year-olds after realising that, like many young people, she was never taught how to recognise the warning signs of an abusive relationship.
Government data shows that 16-19-year-olds experience the highest rates of domestic abuse of any age group (8%) — yet, unlike younger secondary school students, they do not receive mandatory RSE lessons.
This leaves a significant number of 16-18 year olds without this vital education at a time when they will be having some of their first sexual and romantic relationships.
Make It Mandatory, the campaign group started by Faustine, is backed by Sex Education Forum, Brook and the End Violence Against Women Coalition. 55 expert organisations from across the education, health, violence against women and safeguarding sectors have supported the campaign’s call to extend RSE to 16-18 year olds.
Faustine Petron, survivor and founder of the campaign to Make It Mandatory, said:
“As an older teenager, I would have benefited from being provided with RSE after year 11 and an adequate education surrounding the early warning signs of domestic abuse. Students aged 16-18 (KS5) are at a crucial and vulnerable stage in their lives and must receive Relationships and Sex Education that includes comprehensive lessons on domestic abuse including coercive control, healthy relationships, and signposting to local support services.”
Andrea Simon, Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), said:
“This government has repeatedly stated its commitment to halving violence against women and girls. What better way to support young people being exposed to, and directly impacted by, domestic abuse and sexual violence than by ensuring they have access to high quality sex and relationships education all the way through to 18. 16-18 year olds are often having some of their first sexual and romantic relationships and they deserve to be able to explore issues like pornography, consent and the impacts of gender inequality all the way through their education.”
Lisa Hallgarten, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Brook, said:
“As a sexual health charity Brook’s clinical teams and educators would love to see all young people have access to RSE at this crucial age. It would make a major contribution to tackling poor sexual health and supporting healthy relationships.”
Lucy Emmerson, Chief Executive of Sex Education Forum, said:
“Extending RSE up to age of 18 is a natural next step to build on mandatory lessons in primary and secondary school. Young people have called for this extension because they know just how important relationships education is for them as they approach adulthood. The research evidence backs up their call, showing that education helps prevent sexual violence, abuse and poor sexual health. With over 100, 000 signatories to Make it Mandatory’s petition, which arrives at Downing Street today, and with cross-party support from parliamentarians, the Sex Education Forum calls on government to close the gap in legislation by guaranteeing RSE to all students up to the age of 18 in further education.”
Notes:
- Faustine, along with her fellow campaigners, is available for interview
- To access press photos of the handover, please contact press.uk@change.org.
- The petition shortlink is Change.org/MandatoryRSEatKS5. You can find more supporter comments here.
Media contacts
- Sinead Geoghegan, End Violence Against Women Coalition: media@evaw.org.uk 07960 744 502
- Lucy Emmerson, Sex Education Forum: Lucy@sexeducationforum.org.uk
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