11 hours Ago By The Telegraph
One in five teenage children say they have been forced into sex with a partner, a major Government-backed survey has found. Nearly half of children aged 13 to 17 who have been in a relationship said they had experienced violent or controlling behaviour from a partner, according to the (YEF), a Government-backed charity that advises ministers on measures to tackle violence. Of those, 20 per cent said they had been pressured or forced into sexual activity against their will, while a similar proportion (19 per cent) said they had been physically assaulted, described as being hit, kicked or shoved.
One in six (17 per cent) said they had had without their consent, according to the survey of 10,000 teenagers. Jon Yates, chief executive of the YEF, said that children’s online experience through where content containing violence against women and girls was . “One in three teenage children say they’ve seen violence against women and girls , and that’s often in a quarter of the cases because ,” he said.
However, the survey also suggested that boys, just as much as girls, were victims of violence or coercion within relationships. More than a quarter (27 per cent) of both girls and boys said they had been made to feel afraid to disagree with their partner, while a similar proportion (26 per cent) said their partner had made them feel scared to break up with them. Mr Yates said there was which involved providing guidance to children about how to handle relationships and spot any signs of abuse.
While three-quarters of teenage children received lessons on dating and relationships in the past year, on recognising or addressing unhealthy relationships. “There is a proven solution and it is cheap,” said Mr Yates. “When youth workers go into schools and do sessions with teenage children to help them to understand the telltale signs and what to do about it, it doesn’t just make those kids feel a bit more confident.
“You can follow up and find it by 20 per cent. We know that this approach works. It costs 0.
05 per cent of the education budget. That’s £35 million. It sounds like a lot of money.
It’s not a lot of money.” The survey found that 27 per cent of teenage children had been in a relationship over the past year. Of those, 49 per cent said they had experienced some form of violent or controlling behaviour.
Labour has pledged to cut violence against women and girls by half in a decade, based on crime survey data for domestic abuse, stalking and sexual assaults. One in four (27 per cent) women have experienced domestic abuse since age 16, and one in seven (13.9 per cent) of men.
responsible for safeguarding, said: “All children deserve to grow up in a safe environment – so this survey showing that 49 per cent of teenagers have experienced some form of violent or controlling behaviour is heartbreaking and deeply concerning. “We are committed to using every tool at our disposal to achieve our mission of in a decade. “Prevention and education are absolutely fundamental to our approach and we’re considering a range of actions to address teenage relationship abuse, including supporting our education system to teach children about respectful and healthy relationships and consent.
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