Reports from Ofsted that 1 in 3 teenage girls have experienced some sort of sexual violence from their partner has led the OPCC to take steps towards prevention of Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) in schools. 

Performance in Education specialise in delivering theatre projects in schools across the UK to educate through memorable learning experiences, proven to have lasting effects on young people.  

The latest of their performed sessions, entitled ‘Step In, Speak Up’, teaches the power that peer intervention can have on preventing harassment and abusive behaviour towards women and girls.  

Funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) through the Safer Streets 5 project, schools across Bedfordshire have welcomed Performance in Education into their assemblies this month to speak to Year 7 and Year 8’s about sexual violence, and what individuals can do to be a safe and effective active bystander.  

Creative manager, Mike Ingham, said: “Getting these difficult messages across to students and young people requires the right approach that will allow them to see for themselves how situations could manifest themselves in real life. 

“That’s why performance is a great way to demonstrate how criminal behaviour can be recognised, reported and stopped. If we perform scenarios that are recognisable to the students, they may be able to link it to situations they have witnessed either as a victim or a bystander and know that the behaviour is wrong.” 

PCC Festus Akinbusoye said: “In Bedfordshire, as well as the rest of the UK and elsewhere in the world, men and boys are overwhelmingly the perpetrators of sexual harassment in public places.  

“Over the last few years, we have been focussing heavily on supporting victims and educating young people around violence against women and girls. This is incredibly important as we recognise that more needs to be done to keep people safe from harm and violence through preventative work. 

“Performance in Education is a very valuable initiative that I know has been received with high praise from schools that I visit across Bedfordshire over the last few weeks. 

“I hope that the programme will help to fill students with the confidence to stand up against behaviours that they recognise are inappropriate, and report crimes where necessary. Reporting is the most valuable tool to Bedfordshire Police in helping the force to build intelligence pictures around the most commonplace crimes and most serious offenders in the county.” 

For more information about the local response to male violence against women and girls visit the force’s VAWG site area. 

Notes to editor: It is important to note that men and boys are included in all aspects of our work on all forms of violence against women and girls, particularly when it comes to our work in schools on prevention and awareness raising. Safer Streets is committed to ensuring that any victim will receive a sensitive and appropriate response, according to their needs. However, the VAWG strategy reflects that gender-based violence is predominately a pattern of behaviour perpetrated by men against women. This does not mean that men are never victims of violence, or that women are not sometimes perpetrators. However, local and national prevalence data reveals a clear disproportionality along gender lines.