Zara McDermott joins campaigners urging education on violence against women

TV presenter Zara McDermott has called for primary school children to be educated on consent to prevent violence against women.

She was among campaigners gathered outside Parliament on Tuesday to call for more investment in refuge services for domestic abuse victims.

The former Love Island star said: “We need to start educating children as young as primary school age about healthy relationships. We need to start planting the seeds of consent from when children are very young because they are exposed to the digital world nowadays.

“I’ve heard of kids on social media as young as six or seven years old, which is really scary, so the education needs to follow.”

Miss McDermott, 29, attended the protest as part of the Refuge charity’s Home Is Where the Hurt Is campaign to raise awareness on how unsafe the home can be for people experiencing abuse.

Holding placards resembling estate agent boards, they surrounded a pink front door with the number 75 on it, which represented the number of women they say were killed by domestic homicide in the year ending March 2025.

She said: “Often women are fleeing relationships with nothing but the shirt on their backs, they have got a five-minute window to leave and run. It takes a lot of courage for someone to walk away from an abusive relationship, so we need to make sure the infrastructure is there to allow them to go somewhere safe.

“What we are hoping for is some more funding in the sector of creating safe houses and refuges for women when they are fleeing domestically violent relationships.”

Reality star turned women’s rights campaigner Georgia Harrison, 31, was also at the protest.

Miss Harrison, an ambassador for Refuge, said: “A lot of people think that abuse comes from strangers in dark alleys, but actually there are so many women suffering every day in their homes.

“The most important thing is for young women to be able to see the signs of when they are in an abusive relationship. It isn’t always physical. People seem to think you have to have black eyes to be in a domestically abusive relationship but you don’t.

“I’m a mother to a daughter now so anything I can do to change this world so it’s safer for her and she can walk wherever she wants, then that is what I will do.”

Ash Bibi, 47, a contestant on season two of BBC show The Traitors, spoke about her experiences fleeing violence at home and why the Government should provide more funding for the safe spaces.

She said: “I experienced domestic abuse as a child in many forms. I left the day after I turned 16 years old and luckily I was put into a women’s refuge because there was nowhere else to put me.

“A refuge was the first safe space for me. I understand how important funding these safe spaces really is.”

The Government announced its violence against women and girls (VAWG) strategy in December, which set out ways to prevent violence, crack down on abusers and support victims.

Refuge chief executive Gemma Sherrington said: “There is a £55.5 million funding gap between the referrals the charity gets, in terms of people who need emergency accommodation, and the current funding available.”

She said safeguarding minister Jess Phillips and victims minister Alex Davies-Jones are “both formidable women who are really trying to champion change in the space”, adding: “It was through their blood, sweat and tears that the VAWG strategy happened, but there are tough decisions to make with finite budgets, so we have got to keep trying together.”

Refuge runs the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse helpline on phone and digital chat.

A Government spokesperson said: “We’re treating violence against women and girls as a national emergency, with a clear commitment to halve it in the next decade.

“That’s why we’ve announced almost £500 million to help councils provide support in safe accommodation for survivors, including refuges and sanctuary schemes, so they can get the safety and stability they deserve.”