Sexual harassment is widespread in schools with staff the target of physical advances, inappropriate comments and lewd remarks, according to findings published by UNISON today (Tuesday).
A survey conducted in collaboration with UK Feminista*, and published on the opening day of the union’s annual conference, shows one in ten (10%) female support staff in secondary schools say they’ve been sexually harassed, mainly by male pupils but also by their male colleagues.
Among staff in schools across all age ranges, the figure was 7% according to data based on the responses of more than 2,000 employees working mostly in primary and secondary education. Respondents included teaching assistants, technicians, lunchtime supervisors and administrators.
Incidents included a male student trying to kiss a female worker and pushing her head into his crotch, or boys trying to touch or slap a staff member’s bottom. In another, a headteacher told a female colleague to “stand here and look pretty, I’ll do the talking”.
Around one in seven (15%) school staff also reported they had witnessed sexual harassment in their workplace in the past five years. That figure rose to a quarter (25%) in secondary schools.
This abuse was mainly perpetrated by male pupils towards female classmates, but they also targeted female staff. Some incidents involved male staff behaving inappropriately towards their female colleagues.
However, two in five (42%) staff who witnessed abusive incidents did not report them because they felt it was ‘pointless’. Reasons given included that such incidents were ‘brushed off’ or that raising concerns could affect their careers.
Sexist online content was another significant issue highlighted in the survey. Almost a quarter of school staff (24%) had witnessed pupils discussing sexist online content. Of these employees, more than half (51%) believed they had noticed changes in pupil behaviour as a result of viewing this content. This largely took the form of sexist language and conduct from boys towards female members of staff and pupils.
A third (34%) of school staff had heard sexist language being used in school in the past five years. In addition, more than one in 14 (7%) respondents said they witnessed sexist talk at school daily. The misogynistic language reported was most often used between students, but also by staff and parents on occasion too.
One in seven (15%) respondents said sexist language had been used against them in the past five years. Use of derogatory female terms by students was reported as widespread, with female staff being subjected to sexualised, objectifying and threatening or intimidating language.
Commonly reported was the use of terms like ‘man up’ towards male students. Boys were also frequently referred to as ‘girls’ as a derogatory term when they exhibited any kind of emotional behaviour.
Additionally, there was a homophobic dimension to some of the language, with boys regularly being told certain behaviour or attitudes were ‘gay.’
Gender stereotyping had been witnessed by a quarter (25%) of respondents at their school within the past five years, with 5% witnessing it daily.
A total of 18% of respondents stated they’d personally experienced gender stereotyping within their school in the past five years.
The comments revealed this often took the form of the roles staff were expected to carry out. For men this would be manual tasks, while for women these would be caring, cleaning, and catering.
Men were seen as strong whereas women were perceived as better suited to caring roles. One female employee was asked if a ‘male’ should drive the new school minibus; and another said male staff and pupils were given ‘more respect’ while women were ‘often ignored and considered emotional’.
Commenting on the findings, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Parents will be horrified to learn their children are being taught in such toxic environments. The danger is that language and behaviour learned at an early age stay with pupils as they become adults and go out into the wider world.
“Any male staff with such outdated attitudes need to think carefully about how they interact with colleagues and pupils. They must ditch such highly inappropriate behaviour immediately.
“But clearly schools can’t tackle this huge problem on their own. Parents have a proper role to play too. Sexist and demeaning words have no place in the modern class or staff room.
“The role of misogynist influencers cannot be overstated. A solution must be found before this worrying issue spirals out of control.”
UK Feminista’s deputy director Nina Humphries?said: “It is deeply concerning that misogyny is so normalised in schools. This fuels violence against women and girls and limits the aspirations of all young people.
“These joint survey results contribute to the abundance of evidence that sexism and sexual harassment are rife in the UK education system. Staff and students alike face this unacceptable behaviour. More must be done to make schools and colleges safer.”
Notes to editors:
– Experiences of survey respondents included the following:
“Inappropriate sexual comments and physical advances from a male pupil, including attempting to kiss me, and pushing my head towards his genitals while I was sat down in front of him.” Learning support assistant, Hertfordshire
“Headmaster texted another staff member saying he wants to see photos of how her operation goes. She’d had breast enhancement surgery.” Teaching assistant, Wales
“I work in a primary school. A cluster of three boys who were in year 5 tried to embarrass me by talking about ‘shagging up the arse’ and asking ‘do you like cum, miss?’” Teaching assistant, Wales
“Boys pushing girls and holding them down to kiss them, playing games called ‘rape touch’, and commenting on girls’ bodies.” Teaching assistant, South East
“A teenage girl was brought to tears by her middle-aged science teacher who said it wasn’t possible to be beautiful and smart at the same time.” Science technician, East Midlands
“A male teacher didn’t think I’d know how to use a glue gun. I said I did but he asked another male teaching assistant to come into the class to show me.” Teaching assistant, Merseyside
“A female colleague was slapped by a male child on the bottom.” Teaching assistant, Yorkshire
– Click here for the full findings from the survey, which was carried out online from 20 to 29 March this year. There were 2,006 responses from school support staff who included caretakers, site managers, learning support assistants, catering staff and cleaners. Most worked in primary (49%) and secondary schools (31%) across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Others worked in nurseries (9%), special schools (8%), all-through schools which combine different stages of education (2%) and pupil referral units (1%). The majority (89%) identified as female. Of those who responded, 7% said they’d been sexually harassed.
– UNISON’s annual conferences started on Sunday and are taking place until Friday this week (21 June) at the Brighton Conference centre. Further details can be found here. The union’s general secretary is addressing the national conference on Wednesday 19 June at noon.
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union and the largest union in the NHS and in the ambulance sector, with more than 1.3 million members providing public services – in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
–*UK Feminista is an organisation working for a society in which women and girls live free from sexism and male violence. This includes working to end sexism and sexual harassment in schools and colleges, through providing training and resources to teachers and school staff.
Media contacts:
Fatima Ayad M: 07508 080383 E: f.ayad@unison.co.uk
Liz Chinchen M: 07778 158175 E: press@unison.co.uk
The article Sexual harassment and sexism rife in schools first appeared on the UNISON National site.