The UK government’s £15million Misogyny Prevention Fund has been welcomed by charities working to tackle violence against women and girls, although they have raised concerns over funding and access.
The money will be invested in schemes that include mentoring for young people, workplace training and communications campaigns to improve outcomes and safety for women and girls across the UK.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey, announced the fund on 28 October during his autumn Budget speech.
Girlguiding charity’s CEO Felicity Oswald said: “The pledge marks an important step towards both recognising the sheer scale of misogyny as a problem, whilst supporting meaningful action to tackle and prevent it.
“Civil society, government and businesses have all been working together to tackle the issue for a long time.
“It is therefore encouraging that those with the expertise will be given a significant voice to shape its use to be the most effective in driving change.”
The funding will run through the Office for the Impact Economy (OIE), in partnership with the Office for Equality and Opportunity (OEO), and the exact details of the fund will be set out in due course.
The fund will operate a bidding process through which organisations will receive grants to deliver programmes that meet the government’s ambition of preventing misogyny in all its forms, and reducing its impacts.
A statement from violence Against Women and Girls Coalition said: “While we welcome the government’s recognition of the importance of addressing the root causes of VAWG through its new misogyny prevention fund, we await further details of how this will work in practice.
“In particular, we need to see more detail about whether the commissioning process is accessible and equitable to organisations led by and for Black, minoritised and migrant women.
“These vital organisations are too often marginalised by funding and commissioning processes despite providing highly specialist, holistic support to women who face some of the biggest barriers to justice and assistance.”
Minister for Women and Equalities Bridget Phillipson said: “Day to day misogyny – from sexist slurs and harassment to workplace discrimination – quite simply has no place in modern Britain.
“The time for talk has long passed, which is why this government is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to supporting women and girls.
“This funding is a critical step as we work to confine misogyny to the history books, where it belongs.
In September, the Minister for Women and Equalities launched the national taskforce to tackle the rise of misogyny.
End Violence Against Women coalition is a member of the taskforce.
Oswald said: “Girls tell us they are facing rising levels of sexism and misogyny online, in public and in schools.
“That’s why we are calling for more education around healthy relationships, gender stereotypes, early warning signs and consent.
“We welcome the opportunity to bring girls’ experiences and perspectives directly into discussions with the government.
“Girls are experts in their own lives, and it is vital that their voices are heard when decisions are made that impact them.”
As per the data by released by Office for National Statistics in June, an estimated 12.8 per cent of females aged 16 and over (approximately 3.2 million women) experienced at least one form of domestic abuse, sexual victimisation or stalking from March 2025 to March 2026.
Featured image credit: RDNE/Pexels
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