- Conference
- 2017 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 13 October 2016
- Decision
- Carried
Conference welcomes the Inquiry and recently published Report on sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools published by the government women’s and equalities committee. The Inquiry came about following a number of surveys and reports that highlighted the shocking scale of incidents of sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools for example, YouGov research in 2010, Girl guiding, Everyday Sexism Project, End Violence Against Women and Girls and a BBC report in 2015.
The evidence gathered by the Inquiry shows that whilst both boys and girls can be affected, girls are experiencing concerning high levels of sexual harassment. The Inquiry looked into the scale of the problem, the causes and effects. Over a three year period to July 2015 5,500 sexual offences were reported to the police as having taken place in UK schools, including 600 rapes. This might equate to a rape in school every day of the school year. The scale of the problem is shocking and described by some as only the tip of the iceberg. Amongst the causes is the link to exposure to pornography from an incredibly young age (under 11). Another cause for the rise in schools of this behaviour is the response by teachers and schools who show both a complete lack of understanding but also an attitude in some schools of ‘sweeping it under the carpet’.
Sex and relationship education (SRE) is compulsory from children over 11 years but provision is patchy and where it is provided it is not extensive and does not include awareness of the violent mainstream pornography that has become normalised in society and is facilitating the sexual harassment of girls in schools by boys. While softer sexualised media has become common place with programmes like Channel 4’s ‘Naked attraction’ and reality TV programmes such as ‘Sex on the beach’ being aired weekly, children often freely get their first exposure to information about sex and relationships from this kind of media coverage, but more worryingly, internet porn via their phones and other computer devices. Although sex education is compulsory from the age of 11yrs onwards, this is often too late as children (mostly young boys) are being exposed to porn on the internet even younger than 11yrs (Culture Reframed).
The effect that this is having on school children and especially girls is lack of confidence, fearful of speaking up in class, frightened to go to school. Surveys show that 59% of girls and young women have faced some kind of sexual harassment in school or college. Almost a third have experience unwanted touching and jokes of a sexual nature are widespread and treated as just banter.
‘All day, every day’ is an excellent report produced by End Violence Against Women (EVAW) in September 2016 that very clearly demonstrate the legal responsibility on schools to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and violence against girls for example, under the Human Rights 1998, the Equality Act 2010. This combined with the findings of the Inquiry undertaken by the government women and equalities committee set very clear advice and recommendations to government which Conference believes should be acted upon without delay.
Conference congratulates UNISON on its continuing support and campaigning work on sexual harassment and violence to women and girls and instructs the national women’s committee to work with Labour Link and relevant internal and external committees and agencies to;
1)Campaign and lobby government to implement the 38 recommendations from the Inquiry into sexual harassment and sexual violence in UK schools.
2) Lobby for compulsory age appropriate sex education at all levels of school, to include information about consent, respect, violence against women and the harms of pornography.
3) Support the work of Culture Reframed and work with them in their campaigning work to take a public health approach to educating young people about the harms of pornography