More should be done in schools to deal appropriately with matters of sexual harassment and sexual bullying, young people have told MPs.
Concern has been raised that teachers too often “brush off” incidents of sexual assault or sexually threatening behaviour because of students’ relatively young ages.
It comes as MPs on the House of Commons’ Women and Equalities Select Committee have launched an investigation into the “scale and impact of sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools”.
There is already some evidence as to the extent of the problem. Data published by the BBC in September revealed that 5,500 sexual offences were recorded in UK schools over a three-year period, including 600 rapes. The data came from Freedom of Information requests to UK police services.
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