Only a third of Scottish schools signed up to flagship scheme to tackle gender-based violence

School chiefs warn the Scottish Government must do more to tackle the root causes of violence against women and girls after it emerged only a third of schools are running its flagship programme on combatting gender-based violence.

Teachers’ union NASUWT said it is concerned by the slow roll-out of the Equally Safe at School scheme and has been in talks with both ministers and local authority leaders to highlight the need for quicker action.

The shocking level of gender-based violence in Scotland’s schools was uncovered in a Sunday Post investigation four years ago.

We revealed how one in five teenage girls had been sexually assaulted and three out of five had endured some form of harassment.

Only 19% of schoolgirls had not endured abuse or harassment or knew someone who had, according to interviews.

The findings were described as a “clarion call for action” by charity bosses but MSPs say not enough has been done to address the issue since.

Forecast not reached years later

The government initially forecast Equally Safe at School would reach at least 48% of local authority secondary schools by 2020.

But nearly five years later, just 116 of Scotland’s 361 state-funded secondary schools are currently registered with the project.

Political opponents have highlighted the importance of speeding up access to the scheme, with domestic abuse crimes rising by 25% in September 2024 compared to the previous year.

At least 37% of the 14,484 sexual crimes recorded in 2023-24 by the police related to a victim under the age of 18, while 95% of rapes and attempted rapes, and 87% of sexual assaults had female victims.

Mike Corbett, NASUWT National Official for Scotland, warned wider roll-out of the Equally Safe at School scheme is being hampered by the lack of additional time or funds and by “the failure of the Scottish Government to ensure councils are taking the scheme into more schools”.

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He said: “We know from our own research that female teachers and pupils experience sexism and harassment on a daily basis in schools and that gender-based violence remains an all too frequent occurrence in our public spaces, homes and online.

“Education is key to tacking this and we made it a priority to be involved with the development of the framework on preventing and responding to gender-based violence in schools​.

“The Equally Safe at School scheme sits within this approach and is one school-wide programme for secondary schools which can be used to embed a whole school approach across policy, practice, curriculum, school ethos and culture.

“However, we are concerned about the slow roll-out of such programmes and have been raising this with ministers and local authority leaders.”

Pupils missing out

Scottish Labour’s justice spokesperson Pauline McNeill said: “School is a vital opportunity to break the cycle of abuse and make sure that all young people, especially boys, understand the principles of respect and keeping each other safe.

“Yet it seems that up to two-thirds of pupils may be missing out on this valuable education.

“With recorded domestic abuse incidents on the rise, the SNP must ensure that every child receives the life skills they need to stay safe and interact responsibly with others.”

The Scottish Government said violence against women and girls is unacceptable and it is determined to eradicate it.

It said alongside the Equally Safe at School plan, it continues to fund and support programmes to address gender-based violence and sexual harassment in schools, and is working with education partners to increase uptake.