A lesson for us all

Teaching kids respect is way to end abuse

IN the past week, the headlines have been filled with stories of sexual abuse and harassment taking place in schools.

The allegations were brought to light by the website Everyone’s Invited, founded by Soma Sara, which lets victims and survivors anonymously share their experiences of sexual violence.

Launched in the middle of last year, it now has almost 13,000 testimonies.

Initially, the outpouring demonstrated the scale of abuse mostly at private schools in the UK.

But police have now confirmed it is widespread across state schools, colleges and universities, too.

Everyone’s Invited set out to reveal how normalised rape culture is for young people in the UK, and they have certainly proven the scale of the abuse.

Momentum

Now we must use this momentum to fight for real change within the culture of our schools and wider society.

I’m glad that the Government has agreed to launch a review into this horrific abuse and that they have worked with the NSPCC to set up a new helpline specifically for victims and survivors of sexual abuse in schools.

But what is extremely disappointing is that the Government has only acted on these issues once they have become headline news.

Only months ago, in December 2020, a report published by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse showed the behaviour of perpetrators of child sexual abuse in schools was an “open secret” – and yet the Government did nothing.

Let’s be honest, what will another review tell us that we don’t already know? For many of us who work to prevent abuse, this week’s news was not a surprising revelation.

We’ve been aware of these issues for years and have repeatedly called for the Government to take urgent action to address the root cause of this abuse – lack of respect, and misogyny, fuelled by children having access to online porn at an increasingly young age.

For years, I’ve been campaigning for relationship and sex education (RSE) to be mandatory in schools.

Education is key for children to understand what sexual abuse is and to help prevent them from going on to become perpetrators.

It helps them to understand consent, to respect themselves and others, to tackle sexist attitudes early on – and to know what to do if someone treats them inappropriately.

Eventually, in 2017, the Government agreed that relationship and sex education would be mandatory in all schools from September 2020, yet sadly it has still not happened.

Perversely, the Government is using Covid as an excuse to delay RSE further

– while if anything Covid has made it even more necessary.

Children now spend much more time online, where grooming and child sexual exploitation is more likely than ever.

Rather than another review, the Government must immediately implement RSE in all schools.

Finally, I want to say that I am sorry to every child who has experienced or reported this kind of abuse and not had it taken seriously. That is not good enough. You have been let down.

This must be a turning point, so that no child has to face this horror again.