A proposed law would make relationships and sex education compulsory for all students up to age 18, extending the current requirement that ends at 16. The move is designed to help young people recognise signs of domestic abuse before they enter serious relationships.
The Relationships and Sex Education (Further Education Sector) Bill was introduced to parliament by Alistair Strathern MP and is backed by campaign groups Make It Mandatory and Killed Women. Currently, compulsory relationships and sex education stops at 16, which is when teenagers begin putting theory into practice.
Survivor's story highlights gaps in education
Faustine Petron, now 26, said her life was 'derailed' by an abusive first boyfriend when she was 16. She had planned to study politics at the University of Cambridge, but after six months of the relationship, her abuser began subjecting her to 'extreme violence and trauma'. He exhibited controlling behaviours, limited her socialising, and called her derogatory names.
'I had always been outspoken, deeply feminist and political. Over time, these traits withered away as the abuse broke me down,' she said. 'Whenever I started talking about university, he would flip his lid and say there was no way I was going. I stopped talking about Cambridge after that.'
Faustine did not recognise the abuse at the time, saying she had become 'almost brainwashed'. She added: 'I was so young, I didn't have the language to know what he was doing to me was abusive. If I had known, I would have left him six months in.'
Bill aims to fill gap left by current rules
Strathern told Metro: 'Compulsory Relationships and Sex Education ends at 16, just as young people face greater independence, more serious relationships and the highest rates of domestic abuse. With online influences and emerging technologies exposing young people to new risks, we cannot leave them to learn these lessons the hard way.'
The bill aims to ensure lessons are built into timetables for all 16 to 18-year-olds, whether they are studying for A-levels or doing a practical course such as bricklaying or hairdressing.
Carole Gould, whose 17-year-old daughter Ellie was stabbed to death by her boyfriend, said the coercive control her abuser exhibited was so subtle that 'we all failed to recognise the danger she was in'. She now backs the bill to help young people recognise the signs.
Political support for the change
Jess Phillips MP also supports the bill. She told Metro: 'Having spent years fighting violence against women and girls, I know that we cannot simply pick up the pieces after abuse has happened, we must do everything we can to prevent it from happening at all. Our Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy commits to halving VAWG within a decade, but we cannot achieve that without education. It is unacceptable that compulsory Relationships and Sex Education ends at 16, when young people are most vulnerable. This Bill is a vital step towards ensuring young people can recognise the warning signs of abuse before it's too late.'
Faustine's abuser was jailed after she went to the police in 2020. She is now a PhD student at Warwick after graduating from King's College, Cambridge. 'Although I am doing a lot better, the impacts of the abuse are still there,' she said. 'I struggled socially at university. It was hard to feel safe and at ease. He served only a short sentence and, given the threats he made in the past, I knew I couldn't have a "normal" university experience.'
