Educating school pupils around VAWG and consent

The constabulary has trialled an initiative in Hertfordshire schools to help prevent sexual harassment and abuse.

Officers delivered awareness sessions around consent and sex-related issues to over 420 students in 14 schools across the county in partnership with The College of Policing, the PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) Association and Durham University.

It came about following Ofsted’s ‘Everyone’s Invited’ testimonials into sexual harassment in schools.  The review highlighted that sexist name-calling, sharing unsolicited sexual content and sexual assault had become so commonplace in schools that many girls did not see the point in reporting them.

The importance of uniformed police officers, rather than teachers, providing educational input around consent and the law was a key factor in reducing sexual harassment.

One of the teachers said: “Having external speakers provides our students a different perspective and credibility to the topic. It is one thing for your teacher to teach you about sex and the law - it has a totally different dimension when the police speak to our students about it.”