I want my sons to know masculinity can be kind – and my daughter to live without fear
In the year leading up to March 2025, one in eight women in England and Wales had been a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking. Almost 200 rapes are recorded every day. And on average, three women are killed by men in the UK every single week. Just pause and consider that.
There has been plenty of tough talk on violence against women and girls over the past decade – but too little action. We will deploy the full power of the state in the largest crackdown on violence perpetrated against women and girls in British history. This violence is a national emergency. And as a dad to a daughter, it terrifies me. But as a dad to two sons, it drives home that we can’t keep doing things the same way.
So much of this violence is fuelled by the casual misogyny that seeps through our culture, amplified online. Today’s children are growing up in a digital world many parents barely recognise. A place where pornography is easy to access, misogyny spreads fast and loud – and hateful voices tell our boys that control is strength and empathy is weakness.
Such figures include Andrew Tate, of whom 41% of young men now say they have a positive view. Other studies show that our young men are becoming © The Guardian





















Toi Staff
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