Peer Sexual Harassment Research Articles

Victim, perpetrator, or witness of peer sexual harassment? Middle-school students’ movements between roles across time

ABSTRACT Previous research on peer sexual harassment at school has mostly considered students’ involvement in the victim role while overlooking the roles of witnessing and perpetration, and students’ movements between different roles over time. In this two-wave longitudinal study (N = 783) conducted in Sweden, we examined students’ involvement in peer sexual harassment from ages 10 to 11 years to identify patterns of movements within and between roles. Through illustrations and Configural Frequency Analysis, we identified three central patterns. First, many students remained in the same roles across time, especially those who were involved in a combination of roles. Secondly, students often first encountered peer sexual harassment by witnessing it and then became targets themselves. Finally, students who perpetrated peer sexual harassment often had previous experience with other roles in peer sexual harassment. The findings suggest that social learning processes may influence how students move between different roles over time.

The Prevalence of Peer Sexual Harassment During Childhood in Australia.

Sexual harassment inflicted by adolescents on their peers is a major public health issue, but its prevalence across childhood is not known. We provide the first nationally representative data on the prevalence of peer sexual harassment across childhood, using cross-sectional data from the Australian Child Maltreatment Study (ACMS). The ACMS surveyed 8,503 people aged 16 and over about their experiences of child maltreatment and associated health outcomes. The prevalence of peer sexual harassment was assessed using the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ)-R2 Adapted Version (ACMS), with survey data weighted to reflect characteristics of the Australian population. Overall, 1 in 10 (10.4% (95% Confidence Intervals (CI) [9.7, 11.3])) Australians experienced peer sexual harassment during childhood. Peer sexual harassment is an issue disproportionately affecting gender-diverse individuals (24.0%, 95% CI [15.5, 35.2]) and women (15.3%, 95% CI [14.0, 16.7%]), compared to men (5.0%, 95% CI [4.3, 5.9]). Rates of peer sexual harassment were also very high among sexuality diverse participants (prevalence estimates ranging between 14.2% and 29.8%). Peer sexual harassment was predominately inflicted by male peers (9.6%, 95% CI [8.9, 10.4]), compared to 1.8% (95% CI [1.5, 2.2]) reporting harassment from female peers. These findings have implications for understanding and reducing attitudes supporting peer sexual harassment in childhood, particularly against girls and gender and sexuality diverse youth, and associations with other gendered violence both in childhood and later life.

Peer sexual harassment, appearance esteem, and emotional problems: Testing a mediation model across early adolescence.

This study used a longitudinal sample of early adolescent boys and girls (ages 10-12; N = 1113) to test a theoretically and empirically informed model suggesting that exposure to peer sexual harassment (age 10) predicts more emotional problems (age 12), and that lower appearance esteem (age 11) mediates this relation. On the within-person level, which is the level on which the processes theoretically should play out, we found no support for the proposed mediation model for boys or for girls. Unexpectedly, we found that following times of more exposure to peer sexual harassment than usual, early adolescents instead experienced higher appearance esteem and fewer emotional problems than usual. More research is needed to replicate and understand these unexpected findings.

Peer sexual harassment among 10-year-olds: Roles, genders, classroom occurrence, and associations with emotional problems.

This is the first study examining peer sexual harassment among 10-year-olds (N = 985), studying how being a victim, perpetrator, or witness relates to emotional problems, and how these associations are moderated by gender and class occurrence of sexual harassment. Results showed that 45% of the participants reported victimization, 17% perpetration, and 60% witnessing sexual harassment, with vast overlaps between roles. Victimization and witnessing were related to more emotional problems. Victimized girls reported more emotional problems than boys, but girls who perpetrated reported fewer emotional problems than boys. Associations between peer sexual harassment and emotional problems varied across classrooms. Our findings highlight the occurrence of peer sexual harassment in younger ages, emphasizing an ecological perspective when addressing it in school.

Disclosing peer sexual harassment in the transition from late childhood to early adolescence

ABSTRACT Although students are encouraged to disclose peer sexual harassment, no studies have investigated disclosure among adolescents. This study investigated the extent of peer sexual harassment disclosure, to whom students make disclosures, and different characteristics associated with disclosure. Three-wave annual data from middle-school students (T1: age 10, N = 448) were analyzed. The findings showed that half of sexually harassed students made disclosures, most often to friends. Disclosure to adults declined across time. Slight gender differences were found, with girls being more likely to make a disclosure. Logistic regressions showed that individual (e.g., self-assertive efficacy) and social characteristics (e.g., social support) increased disclosure, but the results were inconsistent. This study provides a unique contribution by showing that much of the sexual harassment occurring within school remains undisclosed. This points toward the importance of early intervention, since sexual harassment becomes increasingly hidden from adults as students progress through middle school.

Can Virtual Reality be Used for the Prevention of Peer Sexual Harassment in Adolescence? First Evaluation of the Virtual-PRO Program.

Objective: The present study analyzed the Virtual-PRO program's efficacy in preventing peer sexual harassment by promoting the bystanders' active intervention and incorporating a virtual reality (VR) component. The impact of the program on sexist attitudes, moral disengagement, the intention to intervene as bystanders, and the involvement in sexual aggression and victimization was tested. Method: Virtual-PRO is a VR-enhanced sexual harassment curricular prevention program of six one-hour sessions. The evaluation comprised a pre-test, a post-test after the intervention, and a follow-up measure at three months. In the study, 579 Spanish adolescent students aged between 12 and 17 years (M = 14.76, SD = 0.88; 47.1% boys) were randomly grouped into experimental (n = 286) and control (n = 293) conditions. Results: The Virtual-PRO program effectively controlled participants' levels of sexism and reduced moral disengagement in the experimental group compared to the control group three months after the intervention. The program also showed positive results in changing bystander behavior, increasing the intention to intervene when the victim was not a friend. Finally, visual/verbal and online victimization decreased in the experimental group and increased in the control group. No differences were found for physical sexual victimization and sexual aggression. Conclusions: The first trial of the Virtual-PRO program is promising and highlights the use of VR as a sexual harassment prevention tool. Follow-up measures are essential to determine the impact of interventions accurately.

Prevalence of Sexual Harassment among Adolescents in the Banten Province

Prevention and elimination of sexual harassment against teenagers is the Sustainable Development Goals agenda. Sexual harassment in adolescents occurs between peers. Based on studies that have been conducted, there is still little research on the prevalence of sexual harassment between peers in adolescents. This study aims to examine the prevalence of peer sexual harassment in adolescents. This research uses a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional survey approach. The sample was determined using convenience sampling techniques. The sample involved was 60 teenage high school students. The results of the research were that students had been victims, perpetrators, and witnesses of sexual harassment. As victims, the sexual harassment that many students experience is in the form of touching someone's private body. Meanwhile, as perpetrators, students most often commit sexual harassment in the form of touching other people's private organs without consent. Meanwhile, as witnesses, students often see sexual harassment in the form of hearing other people referred to as gays, sissies, lesbians, and the like.

Sexual Victimization in Adolescence: Pathways of Risk from Sexual Harassment via Risky Alcohol Use and Delinquency Among U.S. Adolescents.

Sexual harassment is a common, yet understudied form of peer victimization experienced by adolescents during a critical period in the development of sexual identity. Adverse sexual experiences early in life (e.g., child sexual abuse) can increase risk of future sexual assault victimization; however, it is unclear as to whether sexual harassment victimization is also a risk factor for sexual assault. We examined the prospective association between peer sexual harassment and experiencing sexual victimization in the following year among a community sample of 13-15-year-old adolescents (N = 800, 57% female) from the northeastern USA. We also examined whether risky alcohol use and delinquency mediated the association between sexual harassment and sexual assault victimization, as well as whether the paths differed by gender. Results indicated that sexual harassment victimization prospectively predicted later sexual victimization for both girls and boys. Using a parallel mediation path model, we determined that for girls, sexual harassment victimization predicted both risky alcohol use and delinquency, but only risky alcohol use was predictive of sexual victimization. For boys, sexual harassment victimization predicted delinquency but not risky alcohol use. Risky alcohol use was not associated with sexual victimization for boys. Findings indicate that sexual harassment victimization increases risk of later sexual victimization in adolescence, but the pathways differ by gender.

Peer sexual harassment, affect, and substance use: Daily level associations among adolescents.

Peer sexual harassment is associated with adolescent substance use at the global level; however, it is unknown whether substance use occurs proximal in time to the sexual harassment experience. This study used daily reports to examine the proximal relations between sexual harassment victimization and affect and substance use. Based on theories of self-medication, we hypothesized that negative affect and substance use (cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana) would be higher than typical on days when sexual harassment occurred relative to nonvictimization days. A community sample of 13-16-year-old adolescents (N = 204, 55.4% female) from a metropolitan area in the northeastern United States completed 56 days of online reports assessing experiences with peer sexual harassment, substance use (cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana), and positive and negative affect. Multilevel modeling revealed that experiencing sexual harassment on a given day was associated with higher than typical negative affect on that day, relative to nonvictimization days. The likelihood of cigarette and alcohol use (but not electronic cigarettes, marijuana, or positive affect) was greater on days when sexual harassment occurred. Sexual harassment victimization is proximally associated with negative affect and alcohol and cigarette use, suggesting that adolescents may be using substances to cope with sexual harassment victimization. The co-occurrence of sexual harassment with negative affect and substance use points to the need for prevention efforts that conjointly address sexual harassment victimization, coping, and substance use.

School climate tolerant of sexual harassment is indirectly related to academic disengagement through peer sexual harassment and feeling safe in high school girls

AbstractAlthough illegal, sexual harassment is endemic in US schools, with students perceiving that school officials ignore complaints of harassment. Research findings have linked school climate tolerant of sexual harassment to peer sexual harassment (PSH) and school outcomes, yet there is a need to better understand these relationships. This cross‐sectional study examined whether there was an indirect effect of school climate tolerant of sexual harassment on disengagement from school, individually and serially, through experiences of PSH victimization and feeling safe at school in a sample of 171 predominantly Black and White girls (14–19 years old) attending high school in the wider Memphis, Tennessee area. The findings supported that a climate tolerant of sexual harassment was indirectly related to school disengagement through PSH and feeling less safe. These findings add to the literature by demonstrating that a climate tolerant of sexual harassment, PSH victimization, and perceptions about personal safety are associated with harm to students’ academic outcomes in the form of school and academic disengagement. Further, the current findings suggest that a national agenda for school safety needs to consider school climate tolerant of sexual harassment in order to be effective in responding to sexual harassment and supporting student engagement.

PSH‐C: A measure of peer sexual harassment among children

AbstractPeer sexual harassment among adolescents is a widespread problem worldwide, associated with several adverse outcomes. Although retrospective reports indicate that people's first experience of peer sexual harassment occurs before puberty, research in younger ages is still scarce and measures of peer sexual harassment developed for children are lacking. This study explores the possibility of measuring peer sexual harassment in late childhood by evaluating a new scale of developmentally informed items, the Peer Sexual Harassment Scale—Child (PSH‐C), designed to capture peer sexual harassment (i.e., victimization, perpetration, and witnessing) in late childhood (ages 10–12 years) in the school context. Self‐report surveys were distributed to 1007 fourth‐grade students in Sweden (M age = 10.0 years, SD = .3, n = 516 girls). The PSH‐C showed good psychometric properties, supporting the scale's ability to capture peer sexual harassment in late childhood. Exploratory structural equation analyses suggested a two‐factor structure which was confirmed by confirmatory factor analyses: 1) direct verbal sexual aggression, and 2) direct physical sexual harassment, verbal comments and jokes, and visual sexual harassment. The division of the structure contradicts previous studies of adolescents, possibly indicating a difference in the peer sexual harassment construct in relation to development and age.

Sociocultural Variables Influencing Female Pupils’ School Dropout in the Asante Akim South Municipality of Ghana

Educating the girl-child has witnessed an elevated influence of women in education, politics, health, industry and sports among others. Advancing girls’ education is probably the most cost-effective measure for an evolving country like Ghana and other nations to enrich womanhood. Sadly, the girls’ education in Ghana appears to be on a downward trend due to their high school dropout rate. This study therefore investigated sociocultural factors influencing female school dropout -in the Asante Akim South Municipality of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The descriptive design was employed for the study. A sample of 96, made up of 40 teachers and 56 female school dropouts was purposely selected out of a population of 3,543 from 10 public Junior High Schools. The questionnaire and structured interview were used for data collection. The results showed that some teachers’ negative attitudes, persistent teacher and peer sexual harassment of female students, teenage pregnancy and some cultural practices among others were causes of female school dropout. It was recommended that regular workshops be organized by the Ghana Education Service for Junior High School (JHS) teachers on how to professionally handle the girl-child in schools in the Asante Akim South Municipality to enable the girls stay in school thereby reducing their dropout.

Identifying Correlates of Peer and Faculty/Staff Sexual Harassment in US Students

ABSTRACT Sexual harassment and its negative consequences continue to affect a large percentage of higher education students in the US. Previous research has identified a limited number of harassment risk factors, and has generally not examined them in combination. In this study, an expanded set of individual, relationship, and community-level risk factors were examined using hurdle models and classification and regression tree (CART) analyses to identify key risk factors for peer and faculty/staff sexual harassment. Secondary data analysis was conducted using data from a sample of 9,285 students from 18 two-year and four-year schools in Minnesota. CART analyses indicated that, for peer sexual harassment, being younger; consuming alcohol more than once a month; attending a four-year school; being transgender, genderqueer, self-identified, or a cisgender woman; and having experienced bullying were the most important risk factors for peer harassment on campus. For faculty/staff harassment, being gay, lesbian, bisexual, questioning, or having a self-identified sexual orientation was the most important risk factor. These and other risk factors were significant in the hurdle models. More research is needed to understand why these factors are associated with harassment. Limitations and implications for prevention programming at higher education institutions are discussed.

Análisis de la campaña #PrimAcoso: un continuo de violencias sexuales

El objetivo de este estudio es analizar la primera experiencia de violencia sexual que han sufrido las mujeres a través de los tuits de denuncia en la Campaña #PrimAcoso. Durante un mes se identificó un total de 2,887 tuits publicados con el hastag #PrimerAcoso, de los cuales 688 eran tuits y 2,199, retuits. Los resultados muestran que 76% de los tuits aluden a casos de múltiples violencias contra menores de 18 años (65% fueron situaciones de abuso sexual a menores, y 11% acoso sexual entre iguales) y 24% a múltiples violencias contra mujeres adultas (21.3% de acoso sexual, 1.6% de acoso por razón de sexo y 1.1% de agresión sexual). La violencia sexual es una realidad que sufren mayoritariamente las mujeres, y su primera experiencia se ubica en la infancia. Por ello es importante la educación sexual para prevenir ese problema.

Peer Sexual Harassment in Zimbabwe State Universities: A Qualitative Exploratory Study

The study aimed at exploring and understanding undergraduate female students’ experiences of sexual harassment by male peers on and around university campuses. The hegemonic masculinity perspective and the socio-cultural model combined to inform the study. The population of the study consisted of a purposive sample of 20 female undergraduate students in two state universities. Qualitative in-depth interviews were done to obtain understanding of how peer sexual harassment was experienced by undergraduate female students. Data was collected through one-on-one audio recorded semi-structured interviews. Analysis of data was conducted using a narrative approach. Peer sexual harassment, perpetrated by male students, was a reality in the lives of female undergraduate students. Female students were raped. Sexual intercourse was taking place in the presence of female roommates. Videotaping of sexual encounters occurred without the knowledge of female partners. Sexual harassment of female students took place after female students had taken spiked drinks and drugged biscuits during welcome bashes. Unwanted, unwelcome and inappropriate touching of buttocks, breasts, thighs and in between the legs was experienced by female students. Unwanted kissing of female students was taking place. Verbal remarks of a sexual nature were directed at female students. The need for universities to invest their efforts in addressing the problem of peer sexual harassment cannot be over emphasized. Despite the fact that sexual harassment of female undergraduate students was taking place at the two state universities, victims seldom reported. Undergraduate female students need to be empowered to become more aware of the nature and extent of sexual harassment. A decrease in peer sexual harassment incidences is realizable if universities improve aspects of their climate and culture. The need for counselling to mitigate the negative impact of peer sexual harassment cannot be over emphasized.

Sexual harassment by peers in Chilean schools

BackgroundAlthough a significant amount of literature has explored peer sexual harassment in higher education, little is known about peer sexual harassment in primary and middle school. Among existing studies, most have examined individual student characteristics that predict peer sexual harassment without considering the importance of the classroom and school context, which may prevent or promote such harassment. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to identify individual and school-related factors predicting sexual harassment victimization. MethodsA sample of 17,364 Chilean students from Grades 5 through 8 in 405 schools with low socioeconomic status answered instruments concerning peer sexual harassment, other types of peer victimization and discrimination, and perceptions of classroom and school climate and norms against sexual harassment. Data were analyzed through hierarchical multivariate regression. ResultsExperiences of being sexual harassed by other students were reported by 13.5 % of students, with higher frequencies in male students, students from Grades 5 and 6, and students with lower individual socioeconomic status. School-related experiences of being discriminated against due to sexual orientation, ethnic origin, and disability were the strongest predictors of sexual harassment victimization. ConclusionWe discuss how peer sexual harassment might be understood as a consequence of peer social discrimination based on sexism, racism, and ableism. We also discuss the need to provide inclusive school climate policies that allow all students to feel safe and included.

Predictors of sexual victimisation and suicidal ideation among transgender and gender-nonconforming adolescents

ABSTRACT To better understand the well-being of transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) adolescents, this study examined the relations among bias-based peer victimisation, sexual harassment, parental support, school belonging, sexual violence, and suicidal ideation in a sample of a total of 16,292 high school students from the U.S (TGNC n= 610) Midwest. Students completed self-report measures: 22% of TGNC adolescents reported being forced to take part in sexual activity, and 33% reported being sexually harassed. Tests of the individual parameters revealed four variables that differentiated between those who reported sexual victimisation and those who did not. Results indicated that sexual harassment victimisation, bias-based peer victimisation, problematic drug use, and female sex assigned at birth predicted sexual victimisation. Suicidal ideation was predicted by sexual victimisation, sexual harassment victimisation, bias-based peer victimisation, and problematic drug use. Greater parental support and school belonging were associated with less suicidal ideation. Practitioners, teachers, and school administrators should be sure to intervene in instances of transphobic victimisation and sexual harassment that occur in their classrooms and schools in order to address adverse outcomes for TGNC adolescents.

Study protocol for PRISE: a longitudinal study of sexual harassment during the transition from childhood to adolescence

BackgroundSexual harassment is a widespread problem with serious consequences for individuals and societies. It is likely that sexual harassment among peers has its main onset during the transition from late childhood to early adolescence, when young people enter puberty. However, there is a lack of systematic research on sexual harassment during this developmental period. Thus, there is very little information about the prevalence of sexual harassment during this important transition, its consequences, and how to effectively intervene against and prevent the problem. The primary objective of the described project, entitled Peer Relations In School from an Ecological perspective (PRISE), is to examine sexual harassment and its developmental correlates during the transition from late childhood to early adolescence.MethodsThe PRISE study has a longitudinal design over 3 years, in which a cohort of children (N = 1000) and their main teachers (N = 40) fill out questionnaires in grades 4, 5, and 6. The questionnaires assess aspects of peer sexual harassment and potential correlates including biological (e.g., pubertal development), psychosocial (e.g., self-assertiveness, self-image, peer relations), and contextual (e.g., classroom climate, norms) factors. In addition, we will examine school readiness and policies in relation to sexual harassment and collect register data to assess the number of reports of sexual harassment from the participating schools.DiscussionThe PRISE study will enable the researchers to answer fundamental, unresolved questions about the development of sexual harassment and thus advance the very limited understanding of sexual harassment during the transition from childhood to adolescence - a central period for physical, sexual, and social development. Due to the sensitive nature of the main research concepts, and the age of the participants, the ethical aspects of the research need particular attention. Ultimately, the hope is that the PRISE study will help researchers, policy makers, and practitioners develop, and implement, knowledge that may help in combating a major, current societal challenge and adverse aspect of young people’s developmental ecologies.

An Exploratory Study of African American Adolescents’ Talk About Peer Sexual Harassment: More Support for the Utility of Feminist Theory

ABSTRACTA qualitative exploratory study examined African American 7th graders’ talk about peer sexual harassment (N = 21). A thematic analysis of single-gender discussion groups demonstrated that while students held misconceptions about sexual harassment, they were fluent in the cultural norms that expect boys to push sexual boundaries and girls to enforce them. We propose that feminist theory, which views personal interactions through the lens of power hierarchies, provides a useful explanation of the students’ talk about peer sexual harassment. Our experience points to the value of group work to explore students’ prior knowledge and underlying beliefs about sexual harassment before intervening.

Peer sexual harassment predicts African American girls’ psychological distress and sexual experimentation

Peer sexual harassment (PSH) occurs frequently and across contexts during adolescence. The current study examined the relations among PSH in school, psychological distress, sexual experimentation, and sexual risk-taking in a sample of African American middle and high school girls. Results indicate that negative body appraisals mediated the relationship between PSH and psychological distress, suggesting that PSH is one way to operationalize interpersonal sexualization and sexual objectification. PSH was directly associated with sexual experimentation, but the association between PSH and sexual experimentation was not mediated by negative body appraisals. Neither PSH nor negative body appraisals were related to sexual risk-taking. This suggests that frequent exposure to high levels of sexualization and sexual objectification, in the form of PSH, is associated with more psychological distress and sexual experimentation, but not with sexual risk-taking, regardless of how girls feel about their bodies.