On the eve of his first Budget, Chancellor John Healey set aside £15m over three years for a fund against misogyny, spread across schools, workplaces and communities. It arrives in a country where, by official estimate, millions of women and girls have recently lived with abuse, assault or stalking, and where the question is less whether the harm is real than whether money of this kind can reach it. The government frames the fund as a matter of basic entitlement to safety and respect, while its critics ask whether public money spent on prevention will be felt by anyone at all. How that questio
Healey pledges £15m misogyny fund ahead of Budget as Conservatives question its impact
An estimated 3.2m women and girls in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse, sexual victimisation or stalking in the year to March 2026.
The dispute is less about whether the problem exists than whether this spending addresses it
Mark
Fifteen million pounds over three years. What is it actually for?
Mimi
Mentoring for young people, workplace training and communications campaigns, all aimed at women's and girls' safety. It backs a national taskforce Bridget Phillipson chairs, which started last month.
Mark
And the Conservatives' objection?
Mimi
Joy Morrissey says no woman or girl will feel safer, and calls it a waste of public money. She links it to tackling the 'manosphere' and says Labour isn't serious about violence against women and girls.
Luke
Worth noting that's an assertion, not a finding. Nothing in the reporting measures whether anyone will feel safer, because the schemes haven't started.
Mark
She did cite the ONS figures, though.
Mimi
Yes: an estimated 12.8% of females 16 and over in England and Wales, around 3.2m, experienced domestic abuse, sexual victimisation or stalking in the year to March 2026. For males it was 8.9%, around 2.1m.
Luke
Those are estimates, and they describe the scale of the problem, not whether this fund fits it. Neither side has shown evidence on effectiveness.
Mark
What about Healey's hope for outside money?
Mimi
That's all it is so far, a hope. He wants businesses and philanthropists to add to it.
Luke
Right, and the fund is only 'expected' to be confirmed in the Budget. Details of how it's spent aren't set out yet.
Le Pouls
- A £15m pledge lands on the eve of the Budget, and the Conservatives call it a waste of hard-pressed taxpayers' money.
- Official figures put roughly 3.2m women and girls in England and Wales among those hit by abuse, assault or stalking in a single year, sharpening the stakes of every pound.
- A national taskforce chaired by Bridget Phillipson will decide where the money goes, starting with young people before turning to workplaces and online spaces.
- Ministers hope businesses and philanthropists will add funding beyond the Treasury's commitment, and the fund's real impact is still unsettled.
On the eve of his first Budget, Chancellor John Healey set aside £15m over three years for a fund against misogyny, spread across schools, workplaces and communities. It arrives in a country where, by official estimate, millions of women and girls have recently lived with abuse, assault or stalking, and where the question is less whether the harm is real than whether money of this kind can reach it. The government frames the fund as a matter of basic entitlement to safety and respect, while its critics ask whether public money spent on prevention will be felt by anyone at all. How that question is answered will depend on choices not yet made.
On the eve of his first Budget, Chancellor John Healey pledged £15m over three years to a new fund aimed at tackling misogyny in schools, workplaces and communities. The money is meant to pay for things like youth mentoring, workplace training and campaigns to improve the safety of women and girls. The government says it will be formally confirmed in the Budget and directed through a national taskforce, set up last month and chaired by Women and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson, which aims to make policy shaped by those most affected.
Healey described safety, respect and the chance to pursue ambitions as basic entitlements for every woman and girl. Phillipson called misogyny an everyday experience, citing sexist slurs and workplace discrimination, and described the funding as a critical step toward consigning it to the history books. Healey also hopes businesses and philanthropists will add to the fund.
The Conservatives were unconvinced. Shadow minister Joy Morrissey called the spending a total waste of public money that would not make a single woman or girl feel safer, and accused Labour of not taking the crisis of violence against women seriously. She pointed to Office for National Statistics estimates that 12.8% of women aged 16 and over, about 3.2m people, experienced domestic abuse, sexual victimisation or stalking in the year to March 2026.
The disagreement is less about whether the problem exists than about whether this kind of spending can address it. Its effect will depend on what the taskforce prioritises and on whether the additional private money Healey is seeking actually arrives.
On the eve of his first Budget, Chancellor John Healey pledged £15m to a new fund aimed at tackling misogyny in schools, workplaces and communities. The government said the money would be spread over three years and directed to schemes such as mentoring for young people, workplace training, and communications campaigns intended to improve the safety of women and girls.
The "misogyny prevention fund" is expected to be confirmed formally in the Budget. It is meant to support a national taskforce set up last month and chaired by Bridget Phillipson, the Women and Equalities Minister. When the taskforce was launched, the government said it would aim to make policy "shaped by those most affected by misogyny". Its first meeting was to concentrate on young people, with later work to look at workplaces, digital spaces and social cohesion.
Healey framed the money as a matter of basic entitlement. "Every woman and girl deserves to feel safe, respected and able to pursue their ambitions," he said, naming school, work and community as the settings that matter. He described the fund as backing "practical action to tackle misogyny head-on", and said he hopes it will draw in additional money from businesses and philanthropists, widening its reach beyond the £15m the Treasury is committing.
Phillipson spoke of misogyny as an everyday experience, citing sexist slurs and workplace discrimination as incidents that have "no place in modern Britain". She called the funding "a critical step" toward confining misogyny "to the history books", and said everyone, from big business to members of the public, can do their bit.
The Conservatives were unpersuaded. Joy Morrissey, the shadow women and equalities minister, said "not a single woman and girl is going to feel safer with this total waste of public money". She accused Labour of not being serious about what she called the crisis of violence against women and girls, and said that this week the government would ask the hard-pressed British taxpayer to fork out £15m for projects to tackle the "manosphere".
Morrissey grounded her criticism in figures from the Office for National Statistics, published this month. They estimate that 12.8% of females aged 16 and over in England and Wales, around 3.2m people, experienced at least one of domestic abuse, sexual victimisation or stalking in the year to March 2026. For males the estimate was 8.9%, around 2.1m.
The dispute, then, is less about whether the problem exists than about whether this kind of spending addresses it. Whether the fund makes a difference is likely to depend on what the taskforce prioritises, and on whether the business and philanthropic money Healey is hoping for actually materialises once the Budget confirms the plan.
Citations marquantes
Every woman and girl deserves to feel safe, respected and able to pursue their ambitions - at school, at work and in their communities.— Chancellor John Healey
Not a single woman and girl is going to feel safer with this total waste of public money.— Joy Morrissey, Conservative shadow women and equalities minister
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