Abstract
Adolescence is characterized by identity formation, exploration and initiation of intimate relationships. Much of this occurs at school, making schools key sites of sexual harassment. Schools often lack awareness and understanding of the issue, and UK research on the topic is scarce. We explored prevalence and perceptions of sexual harassment in a school-based mixed-methods study of 13-17 year-old Scottish adolescents. A student survey (N = 638) assessed past 3-months school-based victimization and perpetration prevalence via 17 behavioral items based on the most commonly used school-based sexual harassment measure ('Hostile Hallways'). Eighteen focus groups (N = 119 students) explored which of 10 behaviors were perceived as harassing/unacceptable and why. Two-thirds reported any victimization: 64.7% 'visual/verbal' (e.g. sexual jokes) and 34.3% 'contact/personally-invasive' behaviors (e.g. sexual touching; most of whom also reported experiencing visual/verbal types) in the past 3-months. Data suggested a gateway effect, such that contact/personally-invasive behaviors are more likely to be reported by those also reporting more common visual/verbal behaviors. Some survey participants reported being unsure about whether they had experienced certain behaviors; and in focus groups, participants expressed uncertainty regarding the acceptability of most behaviors. Ambiguities centered on behavioral context and enactment including: degree of pressure, persistence and physicality; degree of familiarity between the instigator-recipient; and perception of the instigator's intent. In attempting to resolve ambiguities, students applied normative schemas underpinned by rights (to dignity, respect and equality) and 'knowingness', usually engendered by friendship. Our study confirms school-based sexual harassment is common but also finds significant nuance in the ways in which students distinguish between acceptable and harassing. School-based strategies to tackle sexual harassment must engage with this complexity.
Highlights
In the summer of 2020, a young woman in the UK launched ‘Everyone’s Invited’, a movement which invites survivors to share their stories of sexual harassment and sexual coercion whilst at school or university
The resulting review, which reported in June 2021 “revealed how prevalent sexual harassment and online sexual abuse are for children and young people . . . for some children, incidents are so commonplace that they see no point in reporting them” [2]
School-based interventions should recognize this by adopting an approach which aims to increase knowledge of sexual harassment, and includes active learning, including discussions around, and challenges to, the factors underpinning young people’s decisions on whether or not behaviors are acceptable, perhaps based on some of the ideas and statements included in our data
Summary
In the summer of 2020, a young woman in the UK launched ‘Everyone’s Invited’, a movement which invites survivors to share their stories of sexual harassment and sexual coercion whilst at school or university (https://www.everyonesinvited.uk/). By April 2021, thousands of testimonies had been submitted, with media publicity at that point almost immediately resulting in thousands more. This prompted the UK government to announce an immediate rapid ‘Review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges’, with a remit including consideration of “the range, nature, location and severity of allegations and incidents, together with context” as well as “what prevents children from reporting” [1]. Our study explored prevalence and perceptions of sexual harassment in a school-based mixed-methods study of 13–17 year-old Scottish adolescents. We explored prevalence and perceptions of sexual harassment in a school-based mixed-methods study of 13–17 year-old Scottish adolescents
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