Our Watch report calls for strengthened education in schools to stamp out gendered violence

Female teachers have been the victims of a litany of shocking incidents at NSW schools in recent months, increasingly being targeted by male students.

Patty Kinnersly, CEO of Our Watch, says female teachers are leaving the profession because they fear for their safety.

Female teachers are increasingly being targeted by male students who are creating explicit AI-generated deepfakes of them as a landmark policy report has called for more education in schools to prevent toxic masculinity and gendered violence.

The Daily Telegraph has been told of a litany of shocking incidents in recent months, where female educators across NSW had nude deepfakes of them circulated in the schoolyard.

Education sources say one of the incidents, which occurred at a private school in regional NSW earlier this year, involved a female teacher and student depicted in fake pornographic images created using an AI app.

The images were circulated by male students in private group chats.

Female teachers across the state also reported an “escalation” of male students who are using AI software to create vile deepfakes of them, leaving them “traumatised”.

The revelations come as a landmark policy blueprint from national prevention organisation, Our Watch, has urged governments to prioritise and fund a ‘whole of school’ approach to “Respectful Relationships” education.

While the NSW Department of Education has created a “dedicated unit” for Respectful Relationships as recommended in the report, schools will not be able to access its support and resources until later this year.

Our Watch CEO Patty Kinnersly said the fact these images had made their way into the school environment was alarming. Picture: Chris Kidd

Our Watch chief executive Patty Kinnersly said the blueprint had arrived at a crucial moment for Australian students and teachers who are facing “alarming rates” of gendered violence.

“It is deeply concerning that nearly every week there is a new incident in the school environment – whether that be young men sharing deep fake porn of young women they know, or female teachers leaving the industry because they fear for their safety,” she said.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant is concerned about the rise of AI-generated sexually explicit content targeting teachers. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Ms Kinnersly said the report, developed in consultation with the education sector, provided a step-by-step plan to support schools to be places of safety, inclusion and respect.

“This landmark blueprint not only outlines the problems but also provides an evidence-based road map for governments on how the education system can help prevent gender-based violence”

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said she was concerned about the rise of AI-generated sexually explicit content targeting teachers and other students.

“Although some may perceive these acts as pranks or jokes, they are in fact a serious breach of trust and safety … These harms are not hypothetical,” she said.

Education Minister Prue Car said the state had embedded prevention in its schools. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

Last year, a national survey of 1000 teachers by female advocacy group Collective Shout in partnership with parenting author and educator Maggie Dent, revealed widespread, entrenched and normalised sexual behaviour in Australian schools.

The group’s movement director Melinda Tankard Reist said she was aware of some female teachers and students that had been victims of deepfakes.

Melinda Tankard Reist of collective shout said deepfakes leave people traumatised. Picture: NCA Newswire/Gary Ramage

“Teachers and female students have been left traumatised after their faces have been morphed into pornographic images and circulated, which makes them feel quite powerless,” she said.

Education Minister Prue Car said she was “proud” to have gendered violence prevention embedded in the state’s public schools.

Last year a national survey of 1000 teachers revealed widespread, entrenched and normalised sexual behaviour in Australian schools. Picture: Hwa CHENG / AFP)

“Our Watch do vital work preventing gender-based violence and I am proud that our teachers can help deliver that message in schools,” she said.

A spokeswoman for the NSW education department said its “dedicated” respectful relationships unit “includes a specialised workforce to design and develop professional learning, resources and tools”.

The blueprint is based on a series of recent national findings including 40 per cent of 16 to 17 year olds experiencing sexual harassment in a place of study.

Almost one in four young women aged 18-24 have experienced image-based abuse.

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Originally published as Our Watch report calls for strengthened education in schools to stamp out gendered violence