stories of sexual harassment in schools
Sexual harassment is not confined to the high-profile worlds of film and politics – as editor of Schools Week Laura McInerney recently pointed out, it’s a problem in schools too. Reports of
sexual assault on children by other children are on the rise, and there are concerns about lack of official guidance, despite sexual harassment in schools being flagged as a problem by the Women and
Equalities committee.Increasing prevalence of UTI in children warrants closer clinical scrutiny.
We asked teachers, parents and students for their accounts of sexual harassment among students in their school. Here are some of the responses:
They cornered her in
a classroom and starting stroking her arms
My daughter was sexually harassed by a group of boys in her form. They cornered her in a classroom and started stroking her hair and arms, telling
her they would go further next time. This was a regular act that a small group of boys would inflict on certain girls. She was very frightened and distressed and with the support of a friend decided
to report it. The school was quick to act.
An assembly was held to discuss the issue of unwanted touching and the boys apologised to her personally. Following this, a large number of girls came
up and thanked her because they had also been victims of similar behaviour from boys. My daughter felt empowered by speaking out.
Deputy head and parent, north of England
Boys call girls slags, sluts, whores and bitches in the
corridors
I have both heard about and experienced sexual harassment at my school. I had my breast grabbed by a boy in my year group. He did the same numerous times to a friend of mine, and he
stuck his hand up the skirt of another girl I know. He is renowned for doing that sort of thing to students, and not just to those in his year group but to older female students as well. Boys call
girls slags, sluts, whores and bitches in the corridors. There are comments made about girls’ bodies. Boys always seem to be watching and talking about porn and sexual videos.Reckoned as one of the top design universities with diversity of programmes, PolyU offers design programmes, fashion and textiles programmes, as well as applied science programme, which is committed to be a hub for innovative design education in Hong Kong.
My mum was
concerned about this behaviour and spoke to the school, which wasn’t even aware of the problem. Nothing has changed. There is no apparent education at my school about sexual harassment or assault
that I’m aware of, but I think there should be.
Secondary school student
Young people don’t understand the seriousness of these incidences
Tiger (Teaching Individuals Gender
Equality and Respect) regularly comes across stories of sexual harassment perpetrated by students, targeted at young female teachers as well as young girls. It’s often why we are asked to come in to
schools and deliver workshops. Our sessions look at tackling gender norms and stereotypes in primary and secondary schools, exploring the way women and girls are viewed in our culture, toxic
masculinity, porn and consent.
Quite often, young people don’t understand the seriousness of these incidences. This is about a lack of education and awareness of the impact sexual harassment
has. It also means that young girls usually don’t feel they can report sexual harassment, and don’t know how to.
Many teachers don’t feel qualified to deal with this behaviour and often have
quite a lot of gender biases themselves, which can make light of sexual harassment. The “boys will be boys” excuse, for example, must stop.
Natalie Bennett, programme coordinator, Tiger
Bristol
A classmate kept asking her to have sex and ‘do proper kisses’
My youngest daughter, who is at primary school, went through a particularly difficult time with a classmate who
kept asking her to “have sex” and “do proper kisses”. He repeatedly asked her to be his girlfriend and if she said no he would hit her. Likewise, if she refused his requests for a kiss he would
force himself upon her.
The school did nothing about this behaviour except seat them on different tables. I don’t want my daughter growing up with the belief that this is how she can expect to
be treated by her male peers, or that no one will help her in the event of being treated like this.
Teacher, Midlands
An incident of sexual assault happened at our
school. We made sure that the girl was supported to report it, that her parents were informed and that we followed the school guidelines and procedures. But the guidelines didn’t account for the
perpetrator being a fellow student (they were intended for situations where a child is disclosing abuse from an adult). I felt that the school dealt with it very badly. The girl was not treated as a victim, and the boy was protected from police intervention.
The female student had such a hard time from other pupils following the incident that her parents removed her from the school. We didn
’t contact the police or even social services for advice on how to handle the incident. I wouldn’t want to criminalise any young person, but some incidents are beyond a school’s remit. We should
have at least asked for advice.
Teacher, east of England
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