Third of girls endure sexual harassment while at school

MORE than a third of girls say they have been sexually harassed at school, a charity has found, compared with just 6 per cent of their male classmates.

Two thirds of girls have been targeted in public, with thousands complaining of feeling unsafe and being held back by sexism in schools.

More than half of these faced sexual harassment while dressed in their school uniform, the survey by Plan International UK found.

The report, titled State of Girls’ Rights in the UK 2020, found girls did not feel safe on their own in their neighbourhoods and many tried to find ways to avoid being physically and verbally harassed.

A total of 60 per cent felt that males were treated better than females in

Britain, and 57 per cent said they had been in a situation where they believed they would have received better treatment had they been a boy.

Despite the rise of young female campaigners such as Greta Thunberg, the climate activist, many of those surveyed said they were not being listened to, the study of more than 1,000 girls and young women aged between 14 and 21 found.

They spoke of feeling unheard on issues such as Brexit, being bullied for identifying as feminists, and were “worryingly put off politics” by the toxic abuse received by female MPS.

Rose Caldwell, the chief executive of Plan International UK, a children’s rights chairty, said it was “extremely saddening but not surprising” that girls still felt disempowered.

“We as a society are letting them down. This simply cannot continue. The findings in this report should serve as a wake-up call for all politicians and leaders,” she added.

The NSPCC said “far too many” girls were being harassed and work needed to start in primary schools to help society protect them from abuse.