Victims minister ‘not surprised’ by Tyneside school ‘rape list’

Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones has said she is “horrified but sadly not surprised” by teenage girls’ accounts of the violent misogyny they face.

A group of young women from Tyneside made a short film to highlight the abusive comments they experience regularly, which included explicit sexual language and rape threats often masked as “banter”.

Davies-Jones told the BBC the film reflected statistics on youth crime which showed a ‘”huge spike and growth in peer-on-peer crimes of a sexual nature”.

The government said it was “taking bold and decisive action to halve violence against women and girls”, with changes being introduced from September to help teachers challenge misogyny.

Asked if she felt the government was doing enough to tackle misogyny, the minister said she felt more “could always be done” but the government had made a serious commitment to curriculum changes and the violence against women and girls strategy.

She acknowledged teachers could not be solely responsible for addressing the issues, pointing to the crucial role of parents in educating young people on acceptable attitudes and behaviours.