Young children ‘sexually harrassed’ by classmates
THE Government is falling short in its response to tackling sexual harassment in schools, experts say.
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) was responding after Yardley Labour MP Jess Phillps told the House of Commons that boys as young as nine were humiliating female classmates by boasting about having sex with them in the lunch queue. She said such incidents were all too commonplace and when she told her 11-year-old son about the story he sighed and said it happens “all the time”.
Ms Phillips told the Commons: “Last week I dealt with a very upset mother on the phone whose daughter had, while she was at school, had to deal with two boys in the dinner queue throwing insults at each other about how they had had sex with her. These children were nine years old.”
There was an audible gasp among MPs as she recounted the story during a debate to mark the UN international day for the elimination of violence against women.
Ms Phillips, who worked for Women’s Aid before entering Parliament, went on: “When she spoke to her daughter about the incident, she said the little girl said she felt ashamed.
“She thought she had done something wrong and that’s why the boys were saying this about her. And so begins the life of another young girl who thinks she is to blame for the misogyny she faces and will probably face for the rest of her life.” Ms Phillips said she had heard many other similar stories during evidence given to the women and equalities select committee on sexual harassment in schools. She said she was left “exasperated” and “as a parent worried” at the Government’s response to the select committee report, and demanded compulsory sex and relationship education in schools. An NSPCC spokesman said: “We know through calls to Childline that sexual harassment, and even abuse, in schools is something that many pupils up and down the country suffer on a daily basis. We also know it can be prevented when pupils, parents, and schools are given enough support and education.
“While we welcome the Government’s commitment to a ‘whole school approach’ in tackling sexual harassment and violence their response falls short of the robust action plan we had hoped for.
“So it seems bizarre that despite our long standing call for compulsory sex and relationships education being backed by the Chair of the Committee Maria Miller MP, the Government refuses to accept it.”