A new taskforce on misogyny, and its first meeting is about young people
What happened
On 20 September 2026, the government launched what it is calling the National Taskforce for Tackling Misogyny. It is chaired by Bridget Phillipson MP, the Minister for Women and Equalities. Its job is to look at how attitudes towards women and girls are formed and spread - in communities, in workplaces and online - and what can be done to change them. The membership brings together women's organisations, academics, local leaders and expert groups. Organisations named in the announcement include Equimundo, the End Violence Against Women Coalition, Everyone's Invited and Girlguiding. Reporting by the Press Association also named Girlguiding chief executive Felicity Oswald, West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin and the End Violence Against Women Coalition's interim director Janaya Walker among those involved. The taskforce will work through a series of themes. The first meeting is about young people. Later meetings will cover workplaces, digital spaces and social cohesion. Alongside the launch, the government pointed to money already committed in schools: £16 million to teach pupils about healthy relationships and to train staff to tackle misogyny, and £10 million for intervention programmes. Phillipson said: "Government will lead from the front to shift the dial and send misogynistic attitudes back to the dark ages." The taskforce is part of a wider commitment to halve violence against women and girls. According to the government's announcement, nearly 1 million adults experience sexual assault each year.
Why this matters
Ask secondary school staff what has changed most in the last few years and a lot of them will mention the same thing: what pupils, particularly boys, are being shown online. Short videos travel fast, arrive without context and are watched privately. Teachers often do not know a piece of content exists until it turns up in a classroom as a phrase or an attitude. That is why the first meeting being about young people is the right order. School is one of the few places where these ideas can be discussed openly, with an adult in the room, before they harden. It is also where new duties already sit. Relationships, sex and health education is statutory in England, and the updated guidance specifically asks schools to challenge online myths about women. A taskforce is not, in itself, a solution. Governments set them up often, and many achieve little. What makes this one worth watching is whether it produces anything schools can actually use - training, materials, clear advice - rather than another set of principles.
What the evidence actually says
Some care is needed here, because this is a launch announcement rather than a research finding. What is solid: the taskforce exists, the chair and member organisations are named, and the funding figures of £16 million and £10 million are stated in the government's own announcement. What is a government claim: the statistic on sexual assault, and the framing of the problem. Those come from the announcement, and readers should treat them as the government's position rather than as an independent finding. What is genuinely unknown: whether any of this works. That is not a cheap point. Programmes that try to change attitudes among young people have a mixed record in research, and a few have been found to backfire - producing resentment rather than reflection, particularly when boys feel they are being addressed as a problem rather than spoken with. The programmes that do better tend to share features: they run over time rather than as a one-off assembly, they involve discussion rather than lecturing, and they are delivered by adults the young people already trust. Whether the taskforce's work reflects that evidence is the thing to judge it on, and it is too early to say. Its first meeting has not yet taken place. One more honest note. The taskforce has no legal powers. It advises and convenes. What it changes depends on what ministers do with its conclusions.
Practical advice
If you are a parent, the most useful thing is usually the least dramatic. Talk early and often, in small doses. Long serious conversations tend to shut teenagers down. Short ones in the car or while cooking work better. Ask what they are seeing rather than telling them what to think. "Have you come across that guy everyone's talking about?" gets further than "You're not watching that rubbish, are you?" Be curious about the appeal rather than dismissive of it. A lot of this content offers young people a sense of purpose and belonging. Understanding why it lands makes the conversation possible. If you want to know what your child is being taught, you are entitled to ask. Schools in England must publish their relationships and sex education policy and must consult parents on it. If your child has experienced harassment or assault, whether online or in person, tell the school's designated safeguarding lead. Every school has one. Outside school, Childline is free and confidential on 0800 1111, and the Rape Crisis national helpline is on 0808 500 2222. If you are worried about the effect all of this is having on your child's mental health, your GP is a reasonable place to start.
What to know
The government has launched a National Taskforce for Tackling Misogyny, chaired by Bridget Phillipson MP, bringing together women's organisations, academics and local leaders. Its first meeting will focus on young people, with workplaces, digital spaces and social cohesion to follow. Schools already have £16 million committed for teaching healthy relationships and training staff, and £10 million for intervention programmes, alongside statutory relationships education that now asks them to challenge online myths about women. The taskforce has no legal powers of its own. Its value will depend on whether it produces something schools can use, and on whether that something reflects what the research says about changing young people's attitudes - sustained conversation rather than one-off lectures. Sources: GOV.UK, "Government launches National Taskforce for Tackling Misogyny", 20 September 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-national-taskforce-for-tackling-misogyny | LBC, "National taskforce launched to tackle misogyny across society", 20 September 2026, https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/national-taskforce-launched-to-tackle-misogyny-across-society-5HjdhgJ_2/ | Department for Education, "Relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education", https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional. If you have been affected by sexual violence, Rape Crisis is available on 0808 500 2222 and Childline on 0800 1111.
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