Dr Sam Rushworth

Dr Sam Rushworth

Labour — Bishop Auckland

Speaking in the House of Commons on 25 February 2026

Debate

Minister for Men and Boys

Contribution

The hon. Member makes an excellent point. We need a separate debate on that issue, and a much wider investigation. I am pleased that online safety is also having its moment. Online safety is so important for our children, but it is also important for adults. I am particularly concerned by violent pornography. It harms women and girls, and it harms men and boys. It harms adults as much as it harms children. We need to take it much more seriously. I have listed a few aspects of life that I believe are gendered and need a particular gendered approach: men’s health, education, work, fatherhood, safety. I do not know whether a men’s Minister is the answer— I certainly would not want to set men and women up in competition, because I think they are equal partners in addressing these challenges—but at the very least the Government need a men’s champion to ensure that we mainstream these issues, as we have been doing for decades. We have talked about gender mainstreaming, which has meant women and girls, but it also needs to mean men and boys, through different aspects of government, whether that is in relation to health, to education, to employment or to family law. We need to look at this together, for all our sakes.

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