One in three 16 to 18-year-old girls have experienced unwanted sexual touching while at school – and the way incidents of this nature are being handled is “alarmingly inconsistent”.
An investigation by MPs has also found that during 2014, 59 per cent of young women aged 13 to 21 faced some form of sexual harassment while at school or college.
It has led to an urgent warning that sexual violence is not being tackled effectively in Britain’s schools.
The investigation has been carried out by MPs on the Women and Equalities Select Committee, who say that sexual harassment has become “a normal part of school life” for many.
Other findings include that 22 per cent of young girls aged seven to 12 have experienced jokes of a sexual nature from boys, while 71 per cent of 16 to 18-year-olds say they hear sexual name-calling with terms such as “slut” or “slag” used towards girls at schools on a daily basis or a few times a week.
The report states: “The evidence we have gathered paints a concerning picture: the sexual harassment and abuse of girls being accepted as part of daily life; children of primary school age learning about sex and relationships through exposure to hardcore pornography; teachers accepting sexual harassment as being ‘just banter’; and parents struggling to know how they can best support their children.
“Some of the sexual harassment uncovered through this inquiry may not reach the threshold for criminal activity. However, it does create an environment for children and young people that we find deeply troubling.”
The report draws on a wide range of research showing trends of increasing sexualisation among young people, including a “consistent theme” of links between pornography and sexual violence.
The MPs also received a wide range of testimonies from teachers and school staff.
One Birmingham teacher said: “I have seen girls have to leave school because of the bullying they received from their naked images going viral. I know of pupils, boys and girls, who have been sexually assaulted and felt too ashamed to come forward and tell an adult.”
One lunchtime supervisor said: “In the year 8 and 7 playground I hear constant sexual language particularly from the boys. I have witnessed boys being very rough with girls ... the girls seem resigned to this treatment. If I challenge the boys they seem to feel it is acceptable and just ‘banter’.”
While the report cites some examples of excellent practice in schools, MPs also say there is “an alarming inconsistency” with how schools deal with sexual harassment and violence.
They accuse some schools of disregarding existing national and international equality obligations and of not giving teachers enough guidance and support to handle these issues. Schools are also under-reporting incidents or “often failing to take them seriously”, too often dismissing them as “banter”.
The report says that a zero-tolerance, whole-school approach is key. Schools should also have strong links to local support services for women, compulsory SRE and strategies to tackle everyday sexism.
At a government level, the MPs find that neither the Department for Education (DfE) or Ofsted has a “coherent plan to tackle this issue and to monitor the scale of the problem”. Among the solutions put forward by MPs, the government is being urged to use the new Education Bill this autumn to require schools to take action to “prevent and respond” to sexual harassment and violence. All schools should be required to collect data so that a national picture can be obtained and monitored, they add.
School inspectorates should also do more to assess how well schools monitor, prevent and respond to incidents and the government should look at whether initial teacher training can include a focus on this issue to better prepare new teachers.
The MPs also call for every child to receive high-quality, age-appropriate “relationships and sex education” delivered by trained professionals – this necessitates making SRE a statutory subject they add.
The report emphasises that young men and boys must not be “demonised as perpetrators of sexual harassment and violence” and must be part of the solution.
It states: “Most young men are respectful of young women and each other. As we note throughout this report, boys and young men are an important part of the solution and are adversely impacted themselves by a culture of internet pornography that has become so prevalent among young people.”
The MPs recommend that the government should fund research to establish the most effective ways to support boys and young men to be part of the solution to the problem.
Chair of the committee, Maria Miller MP, said: “It is difficult to explain why any school would allow girls to be subjected to sexual harassment and violent behaviour that has been outlawed in the adult workplace.
“The evidence shows it is undermining the confidence of young women. Failing to reinforce what is acceptable behaviour could well be fuelling the ‘lad culture’ that the government has already identified as a problem in colleges and universities.
“Despite this, the DfE and Ofsted have no coherent plan to ensure schools tackle the causes and consequences of sexual harassment and sexual violence. There are some examples of excellent work being done by schools and third sector organisations. But too many schools are failing to recognise this as a problem and therefore failing to act.
“The government must take a lead and … support schools, teachers, parents and young people to tackle this widespread problem. Our report sets out clear recommendations for how this can be achieved.”
- The report, Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence in Schools, is available from http://bit.ly/1XEiodY