The term rape culture refers to the pervasiveness of rape and sexual violence against women and how this is normalised, enabled and excused. Rape culture is all around us. It is deeply rooted in patriarchal beliefs, power, and control. It is further fuelled by gender inequalities, gender stereotypes and sexism. In this post we discuss the normalisation of rape, sexual assault, and abuse, and the impact this has on victims and society as a whole.

In June this year, an Ofsted review concluded that incidents of sexual harassment and abuse have become “normalised” in schools and as a result, schoolchildren often do not see the point of reporting because it happens so frequently; and teachers consistently minimise the scale of these problems. In this post we share the key findings from the Ofsted review and how we think our MENgage and EmpowHER programme can support the Education Inspection Framework.

What are we teaching children and young people about their bodies? Body safety is a topic that most find uncomfortable to discuss with children. As a result, we tend to avoid it. Parents and teachers alike. It is not always explicitly discussed and bodily consent, in particular, gets swept under the rug during PSHE lessons. In so doing, we are doing children and young people a disservice. In this post you will find a list of key points related to body safety that all children and young people should know.

Consent is a crucial part of respecting boundaries, preserving dignity and building healthy relationships. Yet often, people find it confusing, and it gets misconstrued. Unless we explicitly talk about bodily consent, we cannot expect young people to learn about it as they grow. In this post we explain the acronym FRIES and debunk a few myths and misconceptions that you may have heard.