It keeps young people safe – Let’s make it mandatory

For #SHW23, we’re Playing It Safe. In this blog, Pippa Campbell from the Make it Mandatory campaign discusses how the extension of Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) post-16 would better equip young people for safe and healthy relationships. 

Data shows that men and women aged 16-19 were more likely to have experienced domestic abuse than any other recorded age group. 

This conveys the harsh reality that domestic abuse is not uncommon.

It is a patterned risk that will only increase through young people’s progression in education. The above findings from 2016 have continued through to 2020, where women aged 16-19 are still most likely to be victims of domestic abuse. This age group is also disproportionately affected by other forms of abuse such as sexual assault and stalking.  

This data does not account for the methodological shortcomings of recording domestic abuse, such as the role of fear in speaking out. Nor do they account for gender non-conforming identities that are too at great risk of abuse. For example, in 2017 a YouGov and Stonewall survey found that more than 28% of trans respondents in a relationship in the year prior had been subject to domestic abuse. 

With such high levels of exposure to domestic abuse, a developed and comprehensive education on what domestic abuse is and how young people can better protect themselves is needed.   

There is simply too much ground to cover within RSE by the age of 16.

There are subtle forms of domestic abuse to learn about, such as coercive control, that may not sink in before some young people have even embarked on their first relationship. It is just too important to gamble on whether young people have received and understood the needed information to better protect themselves. 

So why do RSE requirements cease at the very age group that domestic abuse is at its greatest risk? How are young people to spot the warning signs of domestic abuse without sufficient education? 

That is why we call on the Department of Education to extend the mandatory RSE requirement to include those at greatest risk. 

Our demands reflect those of the recent Parliamentary Commission (2022-23). The Women and Equalities Committee published an inquiry into ‘Attitudes towards women and girls in educational settings’. It not only demonstrated the prevalence of domestic abuse in educational settings, but it adopted our calls for the extension of RSE to sixth forms and colleges. Their recommendation was as follows: 

“A lack of compulsory RSHE for young people until they are 18 leaves young people making their first steps in the adult world under-supported and less equipped to navigate potentially harmful and dangerous situations and keep themselves safe and healthy in relationships. We recommend that compulsory RSHE is extended to young people in post-16 educational settings.”  

The need for education on healthy relationships also extends to young perpetrators of domestic abuse. Approximately 1/4 of cases of child sexual abuse involve a perpetrator under the age of 18. Additionally, in 2021 Ofsted’s Review of Sexual Abuse in Schools and Colleges found that:

1. Sexual harassment is ‘normalised’ among school children
2. Young girls were particularly frustrated with the lack of clear teaching on unacceptable behaviour
3. Teachers felt they lacked knowledge of consent and healthy relationships.

We need to listen to the young people affected, to the teachers who are concerned, and Make it Mandatory. 

The extension of RSE is not just a matter of protection. Pleasure is a key motivation for this move too.  

RSE not only teaches the danger of unhealthy relationships, but the pleasure of healthy ones. Relationships and sex can be incredibly daunting to people. However, through deconstructing notions of shame around these topics and providing education on how sex and relationships can/should be enjoyed, young people are given the opportunity to thrive in relationships.  

The inclusion of pleasure in RSE is particularly beneficial for survivors who, through the trauma they carry, may struggle to find the connection between sex, relationships and enjoyment. This education could give survivors the opportunity to truly live beyond their past experiences. Such education could also yield an awareness of being a good partner to someone who has experienced domestic abuse (see our Instagram post about what needs to be considered around sex for survivors.) 

Conclusively, there are two primary reasons for the extension of RSE:  

1. Protection – young people aged 16-18 are at the greatest risk of domestic abuse, thus education must meet this demand for informative, protective and preventative education. Educational settings are far more significant than places where subjects are taught and tests are taken. They are instrumental to ensuring that young people’s safety.  
2. Pleasure – sex and relationships can/ should bring great joy. Educating on what constitutes a healthy relationship not only upholds a preventative function of domestic abuse, but it gives young people the opportunity to enjoy sex and relationships and be the best partners that they can be.