Sex education for 17 and 18-year-olds could help young people identify abusive partners and be “lifesaving”, an MP has said.
Secondary school pupils receive relationships, sex and health education, but Zarah Sultana told the Commons that without the same provision in sixth forms and further education colleges, there is a “dangerous gap” which could be filled with “harmful voices”.
The independent MP for Coventry South proposed an amendment to the Government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which if agreed to would make sex education mandatory for young people who receive post-16 education.
“This is precisely the age when young people are beginning to explore intimate relationships, a time when they need guidance on recognising coercive control, domestic abuse and harmful behaviours,” Ms Sultana told the Commons.
“And we all know the tragic consequences of ignoring this gap.”
The MP said the murder last year of Louise Hunt, 25, her sister Hannah Hunt, 28, and their mother Carol Hunt, 61, “remind us that toxic narratives can take root when young people…
