Response to sexual harassment in schools survey

This statement is in response to the survey released by National Education Union and UK Feminista about sexual harassment in schools.

Kerry Smith, Head of Girls’ Rights at Plan International UK said:

“Sadly, we’re not surprised by the figures released today showing the number of school girls affected by sexual harassment. We know from our own research that this is a growing problem in schools and one that urgently needs to be acknowledged and tackled.

“Gender stereotyping is rife in all aspects of life, but when it happens in schools it has particularly serious consequences.  What we risk doing is giving girls the wrong message, and holding them back. Things that sound trivial, like making girls play netball instead of football, or calling girls slut or slag, create an environment where harassment, violence and abuse is more commonplace.

“Schools and teachers need the resources and space to provide good quality, relevant relationships and sex education to both boys and girls to help tackle sexual harassment. Sexism remains engrained in society, but by educating children at a young age about what a healthy relationship between a man and woman looks like, we can begin to change society as a whole.”