When the Government released its updated Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, much of the discussion focused on enforcement, protection and accountability.
Those elements matter. They always will.
But one part of the strategy deserves just as much attention: prevention - and in particular - education.
The commitment to strengthen learning around healthy relationships and make it a consistent expectation in schools signals something important. It recognises that if we want to see long-term change, we cannot wait until harm has already happened. We have to start earlier.
For organisations working in domestic abuse support, that focus feels overdue.
For many young people, conversations about respect, consent and misogyny are not theoretical. They are part of everyday life.
We hear from young people who describe language in school that would once have been challenged straight away. We speak to girls who say they have changed how they dress or behave to avoid unwanted attention. We see uncertainty around what is “normal” in a relationship and what is a warning sign.
Often, these changes happen gradually. A comment repeated often enough that it stops sounding extreme. A joke that no one feels comfortable questioning. A belief shared online that starts to feel mainstream.
Digital spaces add another layer. Young people are constantly exposed to opinions and personalities shaping how relationships are discussed. Some of that content is thoughtful. Some of it is deeply harmful. Research referenced in the strategy highlights that a significant number of young boys hold favourable views of influencers who promote misogynistic attitudes.
When those messages go unchallenged, they can influence how young people understand power, gender and respect.
The concern is not a single video or a single comment. It is the gradual normalisation of disrespect.
That is why education matters. Not as a one-off session, but as an ongoing conversation. Young people need space to question what they are seeing and hearing. They need clarity about consent and boundaries. They need reassurance that respect is not optional.
Prevention starts long before a crisis.
The VAWG Strategy outlines four key areas:
Education reforms are expected to be rolled out by 2027 with the wider measures following by 2029.
It is a long-term plan. Cultural change rarely happens quickly. But setting expectations early - about equality, boundaries and empathy - gives young people a clearer framework for how relationships should feel.
At Leeway, early intervention has never been an afterthought.
Established in 1974, we have grown to become Norfolk and Suffolk’s largest specialist provider of domestic abuse support, assisting more than 19,000 adults, children and young people each year.
Our refuges and outreach services provide safety and practical help for those at risk. But alongside crisis support, we have always understood that ending domestic abuse requires more than responding to it.
It requires challenging the attitudes and behaviours that allow it to happen in the first place.
Our Children and Young People’s Healthy Relationships service was developed with exactly that in mind. Working in schools and colleges across Norfolk, our team delivers sessions that encourage open discussion about what healthy relationships look like - and what they do not. These sessions are interactive and age-appropriate, giving young people the opportunity to ask questions, explore scenarios and reflect on their own experiences.
Topics include consent, communication, boundaries and recognising controlling behaviour. Young people are also supported to identify safe adults in their lives - people they can turn to if something feels wrong.
We also provide guidance and training for professionals, helping teachers and youth workers approach these topics with confidence and sensitivity.
The impact has been encouraging. Following our awareness sessions:
Behind each percentage is a young person who now has clearer language, stronger awareness and greater confidence.
That matters.
Ending violence against women and girls will not happen through policy alone.
It requires a shift in everyday expectations. It means being willing to challenge dismissive comments. It means recognising controlling behaviour even when it is subtle. It means showing young people consistently that respect and equality are non-negotiable.
Education is not a quick solution. It will not undo harm overnight. But it can interrupt patterns early. It can create a shared understanding of what is acceptable - and what is not.
When young people are equipped to recognise unhealthy dynamics from the outset, they are more likely to expect better in their own relationships.
That is where real change begins.
Placing education at the centre of the VAWG Strategy feels like a positive shift.
But real change will not come from a revised curriculum alone. It will come from people working together - schools having honest conversations, parents feeling confident to talk about relationships at home, communities challenging harmful behaviour, and specialist organisations sharing their experience.
Most importantly, it means listening to young people properly. Not assuming. Not dismissing. Actually hearing what they are telling us.
At Leeway, we will continue to support anyone affected by domestic abuse. Crisis support remains vital. At the same time, we will keep investing in prevention and awareness, because stopping abuse before it begins matters just as much.
Breaking the cycle rarely starts with a dramatic moment. More often, it starts quietly - with a conversation in a classroom, a question asked without judgement, or a young person realising that something they are experiencing is not normal and not acceptable.
If you would like to learn more about our Healthy Relationships service, or discuss booking a session, you can contact healthyrelationshipenquiries@leewaynwa.org.uk.
If we are serious about change, it has to be collective. And it has to begin early.
