JWA Chief Executive Naomi Dickson said: “We are concerned that the role of the commissioner is limited to domestic abuse, and not extended to include the range of behaviours perpetrated against women and girls, for example sexual abuse and sexual harassment, and would welcome the inclusion of these.”
Ms Dickson said combating domestic abuse “needs to be strongly linked with effective relationships and sex education”.
She said the Government’s guidance via the Department of Education could be developed further.
Ms Dickson said schools were not “obligated” to follow a specific curriculum around healthy sex and relationships.
She called on Jewish schools to recognise the importance of sex and relationship education because “high levels” of abuse are recorded “between the ages of 16 and 25” nationally.
She added: “At JWA we understand individual schools in our community have their own ethos and we work closely with schools to make sure they are comfortable with all the material we use in informal education sessions.
“By investing in this and in early interventions, the Government could further improve the response to domestic abuse and we look forward to working with them and with organisations such as Women’s Aid to develop this, so that women no longer need to live in fear.”
