Female teachers have been issued with template warning letters to send to colleagues who make jokes about women or put their arm around them, in an attempt to tackle sexism in schools.
The National Education Union published the sample letter in a toolkit of resources to be used as part of the union’s ‘It’s Not OK’ campaign against sexual harassment and sexism.
The letter is aimed at teachers who want to take an “informal” approach to an incident of harassment, and its aim is to stop “first instances of sexual or sexist behaviour quickly without the need to use formal procedures”.
Teachers are encouraged to send the letter to call out colleagues who act inappropriately, suggesting the wording: “I am writing to ask that you stop…making broad criticisms about women/ intimidating me/ putting your arm around me/ touching me/ telling ‘jokes’ about women/ contacting me outside work on non-work issues/ using ‘sexist’ language in front of me/ making humiliating remarks about my appearance/ belittling older women workers/ making coarse sexual remarks.”
