Young people across Scotland will be encouraged to challenge misogyny and build healthier attitudes towards women and girls under a new education programme backed by up to £1 million in additional government funding.
First Minister John Swinney has announced a package of measures combining school education, sporting role models and proposed legislation as the Scottish Government steps up efforts to tackle violence against women and girls.
The new Respect Fund for Scotland will provide up to £1 million in additional investment from 2027/28, helping secondary school pupils access programmes delivered by third sector organisations.
Primary school children will also receive learning appropriate to their age, focusing on respect and how people should treat one another.
The aim is to challenge harmful attitudes early, before they become established behaviours that contribute to harassment, abuse and violence.
Alongside the education programme, the Scottish Government is supporting a new phase of Police Scotland’s Don’t Be That Guy campaign.
First launched in 2021, the campaign attracted international attention by asking men to examine everyday attitudes and behaviours that can contribute to violence against women.
Its latest phase will draw on the influence of Scottish sport, with national governing bodies and prominent athletes lending their support.
Scottish Rugby, the Scottish Football Association and Tennis Scotland are among the organisations involved, alongside Scottish Cycling, Scottish Swimming, Scottish Athletics, Scottish Golf, the SPFL, the SPFL Trust and Team Scotland.
Scotland rugby players Jamie Dobie and Grant Gilchrist, together with tennis player Connor Thomson, are among the sportsmen supporting the initiative.
Their involvement is intended to encourage conversations about respect, personal responsibility and the role men can play in challenging unacceptable behaviour.
The First Minister said:
“Violence against women and girls is completely deplorable and has no place in the Scotland we are building.
“I am determined we do all we can to tackle it and ensure men change their behaviours.
“People of all ages need to feel able to talk openly to their male friends and colleagues about behaviour that is misogynistic and damaging to women, and contributes to a culture that targets, minimises and harms women and girls.
“This funding will help empower pupils to challenge the attitudes that help perpetuate harmful behaviour, backed by the refreshed Don’t Be That Guy campaign, which will use the reach and influence of some of Scotland’s most well-known sporting personalities, to give prominence to this important national conversation.
“I want Scotland to be a place where women and girls live free from violence, coercive control, abuse and exploitation, which is why over the coming year this government will also bring forward a Misogyny Bill to give women and girls specific legal protection from harassment.”
The commitment to legislation forms another part of the government’s approach, with a Misogyny Bill planned before the Scottish Parliament’s summer recess in 2027.
The proposed legislation is intended to provide specific legal protection against harassment motivated by misogyny, although its detailed provisions have yet to be published.
For schools and communities across the Highlands and Islands, the Respect Fund could provide greater access to educational programmes designed to help young people recognise and challenge harmful behaviour.
The Scottish Government has not yet announced how the additional funding will be distributed or which organisations will deliver the programmes.
Together, the measures represent an effort to address misogyny through education, public awareness and the law, with a particular emphasis on encouraging men and boys to take responsibility for challenging harmful attitudes.
