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.
And a 2010 YouGov poll of 16 to 18-year-olds found that 29 per cent of girls experienced unwanted sexual touching at school and a further 71 per cent said they heard sexual name-calling towards girls at school daily or a few times a week.
The remit for the new inquiry includes:
- Establishing the scale of the problem.
- Understanding the impact of sexual harassment in schools.
- What can be done to reduce levels of sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools?
- What can schools do to support students to deal better with the online elements of this problem?
As part of the inquiry, the committee has released findings from research involving 300 young people, further revealing the extent of some of the problems that MPs are worried about.
Carried out by Fixers, a UK-wide charity, the research involved young people aged 16 to 25 from across England.
The participants reported that attitudes to sex have been heavily influenced by today’s media and easy access to explicit online content, with the young people saying that they are now under “massive pressure to have sex and behave in a sexualised way from 12 and sometimes younger”.
The research found that of the 300 participants, 27 per cent felt pressured into sexting, sexual activity, drinking alcohol and taking drugs in and around school, 18 per cent reported being sexually harassed once or more than once, 34 per cent did not feel safe walking to and from school, and 12 per cent had been sexually assaulted.
The research report states: “Our research with young people aged over 16 has found that sexualised behaviour is the new social norm in young people’s daily lives and adults and institutions need to ‘face up to it’.
“In school corridors and playgrounds, sexually charged behaviour drives young people’s physical interactions and permeates through to their 24-hour-a-day life online.”
Among the comments given to researchers, Gemma, now aged 22, said: “Lad culture is a big issue; it is really common. In my school lads would come up to girls and grab their ass, try and push them into the changing rooms and stuff and then say don’t get upset it’s just banter.”
Many school staff are brushing off incidents of sexual assault or bullying. The report also reveals that many incidents go unreported because victims fear they will be punished as well as the perpetrators.
The report adds: “Young people are concerned that schools do not see their part to play in recognising the pressures they’re under when dealing with matters of bullying and harassment in sexual contexts and they report that teachers can brush off incidents of sexual assaults or sexually threatening behaviour because of their relatively young age. Many incidents go unreported because they are worried about repercussions and victims being punished as well as perpetrators.”
Ella, 17, explained: “Say, if your bra got undone they would give a warning and that would be the last of it. (Teachers) wouldn’t really bring it up, they’d tell them to ‘sit down, stop messing around, do your work’ and then it wouldn’t get reported anywhere else.”
Charlotte, now 18, told researchers: “At my school a girl was pressured into performing oral sex on an older boy in school. They were caught and both suspended for the same amount of time. I can see it is difficult for schools to get that right. They’ve got to be seen to be doing something, keeping the school’s reputation in check and deciding what to do is a tricky business. Schools are not equipped to deal with emotional analysis.”
The Fixers report, entitled The Trouble With Sex In Schools, also suggests solutions put forward by the young people. These include “earlier, more detailed and more wide ranging sex education”, encompassing “the consequences of sexting, matters of consent and risk – for example drugs and alcohol – what constitutes a healthy relationship, sexual pleasure for men and women, gender and sexuality differences”.
The report also suggests: “Young people would like to have a counsellor in schools to turn to when they need help dealing with the fall out of sexual threats and sexually aggressive behaviour.”
Maria Miller MP, chair of the Select Committee said: “It’s clear from the young people we’ve heard from that sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools is having a profound impact on their day-to-day lives. We need to address this issue now, and stop it from blighting the lives of another generation of young people – both male and female.
“We’re asking teachers, students, parents, youth organisations and anyone else with an interest in this subject to share their knowledge and experience with us. We’ll use this evidence to find the most effective measures to reduce levels of sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools.”
The inquiry lasts until May 22 and submissions of evidence are invited. For details, visit http://bit.ly/1XEiodY