Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all schools teach awareness of violence against women and girls.

We have been actively engaging with a broad range of expert organisations about the potential curriculum content for the new compulsory subjects of Relationships Education (in Primary schools) and Relationships and Sex Education (in Secondary schools), and in considering whether to make Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education compulsory. We are considering how best to ensure pupils learn about healthy and respectful relationships.

The evidence we gather from these discussions, along with the call for evidence that was launched in December and closes on 12 February 2018, will support the Government’s decisions on compulsory subject content. We will formally consult on the draft regulations and guidance before laying the regulations in the House for debate.