‘They should have known’
EXPERT WARNS OF LEGAL ACTION AS MET POLICE MAKES CONTACT WITH LONDON SCHOOLS IN WAKE OF TESTIMONIALS ON ‘EVERYONE’S INVITED’ WEBSITE
LONDON schools could face legal claims from victims of alleged sexual assault and harassment following a spike in survivor testimonials on a website inviting people to share their experiences of rape culture.
A rapidly growing number of schools in the capital, many of them prestigious private institutions, have been named in connection with sexual abuse allegations published on the website Everyone’s Invited.
The site, set up last June by 22-year-old Sara Soma, aims to challenge the normalisation of sexual violence among teenagers.
Following the disappearance and murder of Sarah Everard, testimonials on the site have skyrocketed – the total number of which currently stands at close to 11,000.
The Gazette’s sister online publication MyLondon analysed just three of the 21 survivor testimony web pages on the site and found a huge number related to schools in the capital. The array of allegations is vast, from the descriptions of cultures which made young women feel uncomfortable to accounts of rape and violent sexual assault.
Although the majority of the material MyLondon examined was related to perpetrators who were students, there are accusations of wrongdoing by teachers. There are also numerous reports of schools failing to act when informed about incidents of harassment and assault.
Incidents described on the site often took place outside of school premises at parties or other social gatherings. However, there are a significant number which detail harassment and assault in school settings or the sharing of nude images between classmates.
One testimonial, which allegedly took place at a North West London school, said: “I was repeatedly groped during classes. My teachers did nothing. The boy was caught with his hand up my skirt and the school did nothing. I was told to just ignore him, that ‘boys will be boys.’ I was left in classes with him and alone with him. So it continued”.
Another testimonial, describing an incident taking place in London, said “I was 14 when I was groped under my school skirt in public by boys that looked far younger than me. I still haven’t completely recovered from the experience despite that being four years ago now, and sometimes still remember the feeling of his fingers touching me. It was humiliating and led me to feel detached from reality for around a year, waking up crying most days”.
There are many allegations which specifically mention schools, describing rape and other serious sexual assaults that MyLondon cannot publish because they risk identifying the victim or alleged abuser. The Metropolitan Police revealed on March 26 that it held the first in a series of meetings to determine its response to accounts published and issued raised by the website.
The Met said that since it became aware of the website its officers have been “reviewing the content to establish whether any victims of crime in London could be encouraged to report crimes to the police”.
“We have subsequently received a number of reports of specific offences,” a spokesman added.
Officers have been making contact with schools named on the website, the Metropolitan Police said, in order to offer specialist support for any potential victims of sexual assaults. A hotline is also due to be set up to encourage people to report crimes to the authorities.
Schools from across the capital are heavily mentioned in the testimonials, from Mill Hill and Highgate School in North London to Whitgift and Emanuel schools in South London, Latymer Upper in West London as well as the prestigious Harrow, St Paul’s and Westminster schools.
Several schools have responded with statements saying they take the allegations “very seriously” and intend to investigate any specific complaints in full. Highgate School, which has seen a student walk-out in protest, has announced it will be launching an independent review into the issues.
Alison Millar, a leading lawyer in the field of sexual abuse in schools and head of abuse claims at law firm Leigh Day, is expecting to be contacted by victims who would like to take action against schools.
“It is a big problem,” she told MyLondon. “I anticipate we will get more inquiries, whether we’ll be able to help everybody with viable legal cases, I don’t know.”
Ms Millar has successfully sued schools over incidents of sexual abuse on the grounds of vicarious liability – a legal term which makes one party liable for the actions of another. She explained that many of the incidents which occurred outside of school premises would not be covered by this. However, she said the firm was examining the possibility for group actions based on multiple incidents where the institution could be held responsible.
Leigh Day has to be incredibly selective in the cases it pursues, said Ms Millar, and linking school actions to student behaviour can be difficult.
“One of the things we’re thinking about now is, is there a chance to do anything more on a group basis? At the moment, we don’t know, we’re considering it,” she added.
“It is difficult because showing the link between the culture and individuals is quite hard.”
Asked whether the naming of certain schools on the site would factor into any potential legal case, Ms Millar said it could stop schools from denying knowledge of a culture or pattern of behaviours.
She said: “It would be a really foolish school who said ‘we weren’t aware of this stuff.’ I mean, it’s very clear that they should be aware of it.”
An expert in the field, Ms Millar said she was not surprised by the volume of testimonies which have flooded in to Everyone’s Invited.
“We’ve known that this has been a problem for 10 years, if not longer,” she added. “It [has] blown up now [in] connection with the wider public discussion about violence against women and girls.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it’s happened at the same time.”
Ms Millar points out that the testimonies on the site shine a light on the fact schools are perhaps not as proactive in tackling sexism as they would other unacceptable behaviour, such as racism.
“There has been an issue about schools not really tackling low level sexism, sexist attitudes, behaviours and therefore creating the culture in which sexual harassment occurs,” she said.
“Also [there has] perhaps [been a habit of] schools not tackling incidents of sexual harassment and sexual bullying, even at quite a low level, robustly enough. I think that is where I feel schools could do more.”
■ If you were a victim of sexual abuse or rape culture at school and would like to share your story, email zak.garnerpurkis@reachplc.om
It would be a really foolish school who said ‘we weren’t aware of this stuff’ .... they should be aware of it
Alison Millar