19 December 2025
The scale of harm outlined in the new Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy underlines what youth workers see every day: that harmful attitudes are taking root early and compounded by a lack of trusted adults to talk to.
Education on healthy relationships, consent, and positive role models is essential. Yet evidence shows this must be delivered alongside high-quality, relational youth work that prioritises the wellbeing of young women and girls and creates trusted spaces for honest conversations beyond the classroom.
UK Youth’s EmpowerHER model exemplifies what effective, evidence-based investment in young women and girls can achieve, reducing participants’ limiting perceptions of themselves and their gender, while strengthening community cohesion and leadership skills.
To be effective, implementation of the VAWG strategy must meaningfully involve the youth sector, which has long-standing expertise in supporting girls’ safety and empowerment, engaging boys and young men to prevent harmful misogyny, and working with those at risk of causing or experiencing harm. Much government and media attention relating to young people has centred on young men and boys, with the formation of the Lost Boys Taskforce and the focus on the 2025 Netflix show Adolescence. Young men and boys must receive support – but it is important that this framing does not overlook the systemic barriers young women and girls continue to face, both online and offline.
We look forward to working with Government to ensure that the delivery of the new VAWG strategy is meaningfully shaped by young women and girls, involves organisations with existing expertise and community trust, and supports sustained preventative work beyond the school gate.