Overview

• Faustine Petron delivered her petition with over 105,000 signatures to Downing Street to demand compulsory domestic abuse education for 16- to 18-year-olds.
• Current guidance makes relationship and sex education mandatory only up to age 16 while post-16 provision is left to the discretion of schools and colleges.
• Data from the Office for National Statistics shows individuals aged 16 to 19 report domestic abuse more frequently than any other age group.
• A government spokesperson confirmed that the education secretary has launched a review of the relationships, sex and health curriculum to bolster young people’s understanding of healthy relationships and abuse prevention.
• Petron says lessons on coercive control and warning signs of abuse could serve as life-saving education by protecting young people from future violence.