Above half of the girls have faced sexual harassment in British schools, said a new report. The report also called for sex education to be provided for all children in primary and secondary schools.
Sexual bullying had become an expected part of girls' everyday lives, said a parliamentary committee report. The report also found proof that almost a third of 16 to 18-year-olds had experienced unwanted sexual touching at school.
What the report said?
- The complaints of sexual harassment would often be forgotten, with no action taken, as said by the youth to the committee
- Maria Miller, the head of the committee, said the report found teachers often accepted sexual harassment as "just banter"
- Nearly three quarters of students in the age group of 16 to 18 said they heard terms such as "slut" used towards girls on a regular basis
- Conservative Party member Miller criticized the education department of Britain for having no "no coherent plan" to tackle the problem
- Under the current UK curriculum, sexual health education is compulsory at secondary school but teaching pupils about relationships and sexual consent is not
- A government spokesperson said the department would consider the report's recommendations
- "Schools should be safe places and fortunately crime is rare, but no young person should suffer harassment or violence," the spokesperson said
"Surely no one who reads or hears these striking statistics today could now deny how serious this problem is," Katie Russell of Rape Crisis, a charity which works with survivors of sexual abuse.
Tags: Sexual Harassment
Girls
Schools
Students
Uk
