Preventing violence against women and girls is a mission for us all

In this strategy the government understands VAWG as ​“a wide range of crimes and behaviours that are disproportionately experienced by women and perpetrated by men”. This includes domestic abuse, stalking, sexual violence, harassment and exploitation, spiking, online and technology-facilitated abuse and ​‘honour’-based abuse. These crimes are all to be lamented as we look at our broken world. Men and boys can also be impacted by these crimes (see the government’s separate strategy addressing impact on men and boys) but the statistics show that women and girls are far more likely to be.

Throughout scripture we see that all humans, both women and men, have equal dignity as image bearers of Christ. From the creation of humanity in Genesis to the way Jesus loved women in a culture that did not, God’s heart and care for women is clear. As Christians, we must look to the God who loves justice (Isaiah 61:8) and compassion as we navigate the injustices of VAWG.

The strategy focuses on three key areas of change, each of which will be explored in its own article, with an emphasis on how and why the church should engage:

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1. Prevention and early intervention
2. Relentless pursuit of perpetrators
3. Support for survivors and victims

“Violence against women and girls is everyone’s business” says minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls Jess Phillips. Our workplaces, communities, schools and churches are all impacted and thus everyone has a responsibility to engage. A root cause of VAWG is the prevalence of sexist attitudes and behaviours that target women because of their sex.

You don’t need me to tell you that the online space is incredibly complex and has a profound impact on attitudes to women, particularly the attitudes of young people. Adolescence, the Netflix dramatisation of a teenage boy who murders a young girl after engaging with incel (involuntary celibate) culture online provoked debate in schools and parliament.

Policymakers and members of the public must work together to uproot the destructive attitudes and behaviours of many men and boys. To do this, we cannot downplay the impact of social media and pornography. Within minutes of a teenage boy making a TikTok account, his algorithm could start showing him sexist content. This is not okay. When young men are receiving a barrage of destructive messages, it is no surprise that so many start following and becoming influenced by the likes of Andrew Tate. Significantly, 2026 will see the launch of a helpline for young people to call for support if they are displaying or are concerned about displaying harmful attitudes. This should give young people a sense of responsibility and care without demonising them.

The government have banned strangulation and suffocation in pornography following Baroness Bertin’s review. There is also a plan to ban nudification apps and other tools designed to create non-consensual intimate images and to make pornographic websites implement robust age assurance measures such as facial scans and credit card checks to prevent children from accessing the content. These are changes Christians and parents should welcome and are a positive step to protect women and girls.

The type of RSHE education that children receive is pivotal in cutting through harmful noise on social media and has been the leading reason why we have engaged parliamentarians and policymakers on behalf of our members. 

In the past year, 39% of 13 – 17-year-olds in a relationship experienced emotional or physical abuse from a partner. The strategy outlines the plan to overhaul the RSHE curriculum, with a focus on developing skills for healthy relationships from the beginning of primary school while enabling pupils to tackle harmful influences. By 2029, the plan is for every secondary school in England to be properly educating students about healthy relationships, to be achieved by investing £3 million in a teacher training fund and £5 million into piloting healthy relationships training delivered by external providers. These are important measures, but our teachers are already under pressure. It is my prayer that this will be outworked successfully and will not overburden an overstretched sector. 

Our Time to Talk resource and webinar series is a helpful resource for parents and church leaders on how to have better conversations about one’s body, sex and relationships, enabling young people to know what it means for men and women to be wonderfully made in the image of God.

It has also been made clear that we need to care for families and those parenting children. Tragically, childhood experience of domestic abuse in the home impacts the future likelihood of victimisation or perpetration. Research shows that one in four families with children under five struggle to get trusted advice or guidance to support them in parenting. Therefore, tens of millions a year will be invested to bolster child and family social workers’ capacity and skills, including risk and early intervention on VAWG and Best Start Family Hubs will be provided in disadvantaged areas. The church has a unique opportunity to support this work through providing parenting sessions, toddler groups and outreach cafes. Faith in Kids is a wonderful organisation helping churches and parents to disciple children in the way of Jesus in this sexually explicit society. 

As I read these plans, my mind keeps coming back to our churches. How are we loving our young people and families well? There is a clear call to be having honest conversations with teenagers, engaging with compassion and an understanding of the complexity of the online spaces that they find themselves in. Perhaps you are a youth worker, on the children’s team or a student leader – how are you approaching these often taboo conversations? Or maybe you are a single adult with a heart for the young people in your church family. There is a call for all of us to be speaking biblical truth to our young people as they grow up in this ever-changing cultural landscape.

Above all, let us be praying that our young people will come to know their identity in Christ, and the worth they have as image bearers of Him. Church family is a wonderful gift from God, and we need to love both our sisters and brothers well, pointing them to their true hope as we navigate these challenging and painful conversations.