Educators ‘leaders have said a “masculinity crisis” is fermenting in schools across the UK, with misogynistic abuse of female staff on the increase, leaving victims “traumatised”, “demeaned” and “humiliated”.
Almost a quarter of female instructors who participated in a union survey said they have been the target of misogyny from a student over the previous 12 months– the greatest proportion in the last 4 years of surveys.One teacher said she was called a”fucking slag “by a student. Another stated a student had actually made naked AI pictures of her, while other kids joked about raping girls, then chuckled when challenged.The 5,000-strong survey by the NASUWT instructors’union tracked an increasing trend in misogyny directed at female instructors over the last few years, from 17.4% in 2023, climbing to 19.5% in 2024, 22.2% in 2025, increasing to 23.4% this year.Matt Wrack
, NASUWT general secretary, alerted of a ticking timebomb and required better support and training to handle the effect of the “manosphere” in schools.
“Over 70% of the mentor occupation is female,” he said. “If female instructors are reporting that they can not contain gender-based aggression in their class– which is exactly what they are telling NASUWT– then we have a ticking timebomb on our hands.
“These students are the same young boys and boys who will go on to be hubbies, daddies and colleagues in the work environment. They might eventually develop impact in the public sphere. We should help them and their victims– including teachers– before it is too late.”
Previously this week, misogyny was also high up on the agenda at the yearly conference of the NASUWT’s sis union, the National Education Union (NEU), which linked the boost in schools with severe online material and personalities.Daniel Kebede, NEU general secretary, said:”Addicting social networks algorithms are feeding our kids harmful material on a daily basis. That content is having clear negative impacts.”The problem of misogyny among young boys and young men has actually also been brought to national attention in current weeks by Louis Theroux’s documentary, Inside the Manosphere, and before that by the acclaimed drama Adolescence.The latest poll focuses on female personnel rather than trainees
. Female instructors described being ignored, mocked and patronised by their students, including being described as”love”, told to”calm down”and belittled with remarks like “must be that time of the month “. They grumbled about sexualised noises and gestures, which are utilized to humiliate and demean, and insufficient assistance from moms and dads or school management. “Moms and dads have actually told me if I can’t manage teenage young boys then I need to ‘work in a fucking nursery’.”One said she was asked sexual or unsuitable concerns, while another recorded her experiences:”
Told I’m a bad teacher. Asked why I don’t smile more. Meowed at by male student.”Another said: “It uses me down and outrages me when it is not taken seriously enough by management(who
are mainly male )who maybe do not appreciate the effect it has.”Wrack required more personnel training.”We have a masculinity crisis developing in our schools. Educators desperately need increased assistance to handle this new frontier of behaviour management– it affects the wellness of everybody in the class.”We need obligatory expert advancement packages to assist teachers identify, obstacle and securely de-escalate behaviour rooted in online radicalisation, sexism and hate. “The concern will be disputed by delegates at the NASUWT annual conference in Birmingham on Saturday. Polling on members ‘experiences of misogyny in the class was initially added
to the NASUWT’s Big Concern study in 2023. Rebecca Hitchen, head of policy and campaigns at the End Violence Against Women Union, required strong sanctions on tech companies stopping working to deal with the spread of misogyny online.
“These findings as soon as again demonstrate how schools– particularly female instructors and trainees– are bearing the force of the rise of misogyny fuelled by profit-seeking tech companies. This not only effects girls’rights to education and security in the classroom, however has a chilling effect on equality across the entire of society.”Educators, schools and expert violence against women and women services need to be sustainably and sufficiently resourced to react to these new challenges and guarantee youths are equipped with the tools to have healthy romantic and sexual relationships into their adult lives.”A Department for Education spokesperson stated: “Misogynistic views are not natural, they are learned, and we are dedicated to using every possible tool to achieve our mission of halving violence against females and ladies.”Our upgraded relationships, sex and health education assistance is developed to make certain all youths can recognize favorable role models, and we are supplying resources to support teachers to acknowledge the indications of” incel”ideologies so we can intervene effectively.”