£21,000-a-year school’s ‘rape culture’ walkout
DOZENS of pupils walked out of a leading private school yesterday in protest at its alleged ‘rape culture’.
Female pupils said Highgate School in north London had ‘failed’ them by turning a blind eye to complaints of sexual harassment and assault.
Pupils from Years 11, 12 and 13 – including some boys – wore an item of red clothing in solidarity as they walked out of afternoon lessons yesterday. Teachers also wore red to express their support.
The school – which charges fees of £21,600 a year and became a co-ed in 2004 – has been rocked by claims from past and present pupils that it failed to stamp out incidents of sexual harassment.
A dossier of 170 student testimonies submitted to the school’s governors yesterday shared individual experiences of rape and assault at the school.
The dossier accused Highgate of failing to ‘adequately educate its pupils regarding rape culture’. It added that ‘rape culture, misogyny and the objectification of female pupils’ were prevalent.
At 1.30pm yesterday, students left their lessons and gathered in the courtyard.
Several sixth-formers took to a balcony with a megaphone to deliver impassioned speeches. One said: ‘The school has failed us, they have failed to make us feel safe, to feel protected, to feel valued. We deserve better. We deserve to grow up in an institution that has zero tolerance for any sexual misconduct. We deserve an apology.’
Another girl said: ‘We need to come together as we have been and stare in the eyes of the male pupils at this school, who for a long time have been allowed to act in vile and inhumane ways.’
Highgate’s governing body said: ‘We are deeply shocked and horrified by the allegations’, adding that it had commissioned an external review into the allegations.