In recent years there has been a significant increase in awareness of sexual harassment and sexual violence against women and girls in educational settings. Thousands of children and young people have posted testimonials of their experiences on the Everyone’s Invited website, while school teachers have voiced concerns about the toxic influence of social media and some of the purported ‘influencers’ who use it to broadcast misogyny to boys and young men.
Access to online pornography has left children and young people, especially boys and young men, with a misguided representation of women, men, and what sexual relationships look like. The Online Safety Bill presents an opportunity to regulate online pornography and to address issues such as boys cyberflashing hardcore pornographic images at girls, the Airdropping of nude images and other forms of sexual harassment. However, those responsible for the safety of girls in educational settings should not wait for the Bill to become law to tackle this behaviour.
We welcome Ofsted’s 2021 review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges. Ofsted should not hesitate to undertake a similar review in the future if its inspectors find a lack of progress has been made in tackling peer-on-peer abuse in schools. As part of their inspections Ofsted should also investigate the level of abuse experienced by female staff, at the hands of pupils, parents and other staff.
