John Healey announces £15 million fund to combat misogyny in Budget

Chancellor John Healey announced on the eve of his first Budget that the government will allocate £15 million over three years to a new “misogyny prevention fund” aimed at schools, workplaces and communities across England. The money will support mentoring schemes for young people, training for employers and public‑awareness campaigns designed to make women and girls feel safer and more respected. Healey said every woman and girl deserves to pursue her ambitions without fear.

The pledge follows the launch of a national taskforce on misogyny last month, chaired by Women and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson. The taskforce was created after Office for National Statistics data showed 12.8 % of women aged 16 and over – about 3.2 million people – experienced domestic abuse, sexual victimisation or stalking in the year to March 2026, compared with 8.9 % of men. The government said the fund will help turn the taskforce’s recommendations into practical action, starting with young people and later expanding to workplaces, digital spaces and broader social cohesion.

Phillipson welcomed the funding, calling daily incidents of misogyny “unacceptable in modern Britain” and saying the money is a “critical step” toward moving misogyny into the history books. She urged businesses and charities to add their own resources to widen the reach of the programmes. The opposition’s response was sharply critical. Conservative shadow Women and Equalities Minister Joy Morrissey dismissed the allocation as “waste of public money”, arguing that no woman will feel safer when taxpayers are asked to fund what she described as the “manosphere”. She claimed Labour was not serious about tackling violence against women and girls.

The fund is expected to be confirmed in the upcoming Budget, and Healey hopes the initial £15 million will attract further investment from the private sector and philanthropists. If the schemes deliver, they could provide a model for other parts of the UK, such as Scotland’s plan to introduce misogyny education in every school. The announcement signals a political shift toward treating gender‑based harassment as a public‑policy issue, and it will test whether targeted funding can translate into measurable improvements in safety and equality for women and girls.