UK pledges £15m for misogyny prevention fund ahead of Budget
The proposed three-year fund would support mentoring, workplace training and public campaigns. Its funding is expected to be confirmed in Wednesday’s Budget.
The UK government has pledged £15m over three years for a fund to tackle misogyny in schools, workplaces and communities, the BBC reported on 27 October. The money is expected to be confirmed in Wednesday’s Budget, so the pledge has yet to become a completed Budget decision. The fund would support efforts to improve safety for women and girls across the UK.
How the £15m fund would be used
Organisations would be able to bid for money to provide mentoring for young people, workplace training and awareness campaigns, according to the Guardian. Women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson would lead the fund, which the Guardian said was announced last month. Ministers also plan to seek matching contributions from businesses and philanthropists to increase the money available.
Phillipson said the aim was to address everyday sexism, including sexist slurs, harassment and workplace discrimination. She said such behaviour had no place in modern Britain and described the funding as a step toward prevention. The Guardian linked the announcement to government concern about the influence of the ‘manosphere’, but the proposed grants cover conduct in schools, at work and in public places more broadly.
Chancellor John Healey said every woman and girl should feel safe and respected at school, at work and in her community. He said the investment would back practical action and seek support from businesses and philanthropists. The BBC reported that Conservative shadow women and equalities minister Joy Morrissey opposed the spending, calling it a waste of public money and arguing that it would not make women and girls safer.
How the pledge differs from school funding
The proposed £15m fund is separate from a previously announced £20m package for schools, the Guardian reported. That package is intended to provide funding and materials addressing relationship issues, online misogyny and misinformation. The new fund has a wider remit, extending to workplaces and public spaces as well as schools, and would invite bids from organisations to run prevention projects.
The Guardian cited Transport for London’s ‘Have a Word’ and ‘Say Maaate to a Mate’ campaigns as examples of bystander messaging that could receive wider funding. It also reported criticism that such campaigns had done relatively little to address serious violence against women and girls. The government has not named grant recipients or set out an application timetable; formal confirmation of the pledge is expected in Wednesday’s Budget.
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Sources and context
- UK government to give £15m to anti-misogyny fund amid ‘manosphere’ concernsThe Guardian
- Chancellor John Healey's Budget to include £15m to tackle misogynyBBC News
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