FINDINGS from an Ofsted study into sexual harassment and abuse in England’s schools shows the need for a similar review in Scotland, the Scottish Greens have said.
Ofsted has concluded that that sexual harassment has become “normalised” among school-age children after the survey found nine in 10 school-age girls in England are frequently given sexualised labels or sent explicit images.
In the survey, girls said boys “just won’t take no for an answer” when asking for explicit images with those at one school telling inspectors they can be contacted by up to 10 or 11 different boys a night asking for such images.
The review was ordered by the UK Department for Education in March following the scale of abuse uncovered by the Everyone’s Invited campaign.
The Greens have proposed that Scotland launch a similar review into the scale of sexual harassment and abuse in schools and colleges here.
Scottish Greens education spokesperson Ross Greer said: “To their credit, the UK Department for Education acted decisively in response to disturbing allegations by launching this review, whose initial findings are alarming but sadly not surprising. It is clear Scotland must immediately follow this approach. Sexual abuse and harassment in schools is certainly not a problem unique to England.
“Many of the survivor testimonies submitted to Everyone’s Invited came from Scotland, making it clear that a sector-wide review is necessary here as well.
“Violence against women and girls is endemic in our society and it is clear that a number of schools are not offering pupils the protections they deserve. Some appear more concerned with protecting their own reputation than their students’ welfare, which in turn makes it less likely that survivors will come forward in the future.
“Whilst sexual abuse disproportionately affects girls, many survivors are boys as well, for whom the stigma of being a ‘victim’ creates additional barriers to coming forward.
“We owe it to all of our young people to ensure that every school and college in Scotland is tackling sexual harassment effectively and supporting survivors with the compassion they deserve.”
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