Sexual Harassment in Secondary School: Prevalence and Ambiguities

• Link to report: Sexual Harassment in Secondary School: Prevalence and Ambiguities

• Authors: Helen Sweeting, Carolyn Blake, Julie Riddell, Simon Barrett, Kirstin Mitchell

• Published by: PLOS One, February 2022

SUMMARY

Researchers from the University of Glasgow wanted to establish the prevalence and perceptions of sexual harassment in schools, investigating what young people think “counts” as sexual harassment. They surveyed 638 13- to 17-year-olds in three Scottish schools and carried out 18 focus groups with 119 students. The survey defined sexual harassment as “any unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature that you find offensive or which makes you feel uncomfortable, intimidated or humiliated”.

Students were asked whether they had experienced 17 different kinds of sexual harassment in school – or on the way to school – in the last three months and whether they had done any of the 17 things to another student. Examples of harassment included making sexual jokes, gestures or looks, spreading sexual rumours, and pulling clothing down or off.

Overall, 68.3 per cent of respondents said they had experienced some form of sexual harassment in the last three months while 30 per cent said they had been perpetrators. The researchers found the most frequently experienced behaviour was being the recipient of sexual jokes, gestures or looks, reported by around half the sample. Around a quarter had been shown unwanted sexual images or messages and a fifth had been described as gay or lesbian in a hurtful way. Other behaviours were very rarely reported, including being made to do something sexual other than kissing, having a naked/sexual picture of themselves forwarded without consent, and having clothing pulled off or down. A significant proportion opted for “not sure” for some categories, such as whether they had been the target of sexual gestures. The researchers suggest this may reveal uncertainty around boundaries.

Both boys and girls reported themselves as victims of harassment with 57.2 per cent of boys and 48.7 per cent of girls saying they had been victims of sexual jokes, looks or gestures. Girls were more likely than boys to have been shown or sent sexual images or messages they did not want to see (32.9 per cent compared with 17.1 per cent) or pressured to send a naked or sexual picture of themselves (14.3 per cent compared with five per cent).

Perpetration rates were markedly higher among boys. For example, 37.5 per cent of boys said they had made sexual jokes, gestures or looks in the last three months compared with 14.8 per cent of girls.

The focus groups were asked to rate certain behaviours as okay or not okay. The least acceptable behaviours were being made to kiss someone, which 17 out of 18 groups rated as not okay and one as “not sure” and being asked to send a naked/sexual picture, with 14 groups saying this was not okay and four unsure.

The groups showed more ambiguity around other categories with half or more of the groups “unsure” about whether making sexual jokes was okay or not. There was also uncertainty about making sexual comments about appearance, clothing or body parts, describing someone as gay or lesbian in a hurtful way, pulling at clothing, and touching, grabbing or pinching.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

While adolescents saw behaviours involving coercion as unacceptable, they were unsure about the acceptability of many behaviours generally regarded as representing sexual harassment. The report authors say school-based interventions should adopt an approach that not only aims to increase knowledge of sexual harassment but also includes discussion around how and why young people judge whether or not behaviours are acceptable. They should also aim to develop understanding of how “more serious” behaviours increase when “less serious” behaviours are perceived as acceptable, feeding into “rape culture”.

FURTHER READING

• Sexual Harassment in Schools, Robert Long, House of Commons Library, February 2022

• Sexting and Institutional Discourses of Child Protection: The Views of Young People and Providers of Relationship and Sex Education, Leanne York, Alison MacKenzie and Noel Purdy, British Educational Research Journal, July 2021

• Review of Sexual Abuse in Schools and Colleges, Ofsted, June 2021