Guidelines for schools

IDENTIFYING AND PREVENTING SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Introduction

In October 2017, the Me Too campaign became a global online phenomenon. The campaign was shaped by US actress Alyssa Milano, who invited her followers to share their experiences of sexual harassment on Twitter with the tag #metoo. The campaign brought the conversation about sexual harassment to the surface among young people and adults alike.

According to a survey , 55% of women in the European Union have experienced sexual harassment and more than 20% of young women (18-29 year olds) have been bullied or harassed online at least once. Given that the majority of women and girls do not report harassment, the figures are actually much higher.

Sexual harassment experienced by young people is common both at school and in their leisure time. According to the Finnish School Health Survey, sexual harassment experienced by girls has increased significantly in recent years. However, sexual harassment is as much directed at boys as at girls.

Schools across Europe need more up-to-date information on the phenomenon and guidance on how to tackle harassment. Experts say that open discussion and early enough sex education will prevent sexual harassment.

This publication brings together key guidelines for preventing and tackling sexual harassment in secondary schools. The publication was produced as part of the SHEHAP project to improve the identification and prevention of sexual harassment in secondary schools.

What is sexual harassment?

Sexual harassment is verbal, non-verbal or physical unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment is the intentional or actual violation of a person’s mental or physical integrity by creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or harassing environment. Sexual harassment is sometimes difficult to detect because its manifestation depends not only on the nature of the act but also on the situation. However, sexual harassment should always be addressed when it is observed among children and young people. Forms of sexual harassment include:

• Unwanted intentional touching (e.g. bending over someone or pinching).
• Unwanted pressure to have sex
• Actual or attempted rape or sexual assault
• Unwanted sexually explicit messages on social media, text messages, emails or phone calls
• Unwanted pressure to go on a date
• Unwanted sexual teasing, jokes, comments or questions
• Making sexual gestures with hands or body movements
• Whistling in the background
• Asking about sexual fantasies, preferences or history
• Personal questions about social or sexual life
• Sexual comments about a person’s clothing, anatomy or appearance
• Kissing sounds or licking of lips
• Giving personal gifts
• Hanging around a person
• Standing close to or pressing against another person
• Staring at someone

Prevention of sexual harassment in schools

Schools can play an active role in preventing sexual harassment. Prevention of sexual harassment must be a commitment of the whole school community. In prevention, adults (teachers and other staff) set an example to pupils. The following actions can be taken to prevent sexual harassment situations:

• Create an open culture in school to discuss sexual harassment. This requires adults to actively raise the issue in different situations, while demonstrating that it is OK to talk about it in school. The following are good situations in which to raise sexual harassment:
• when discussing school and classroom rules and safety
• discussing the issue in class as part of lessons or when sexual harassment has occurred in everyday life
• as part of other sex education
• raising the issue with parents of children or young people in the context of cooperation between home and school (discussions, parents’ evenings, joint events)
• Topics that should be discussed between pupils, staff and parents in the context of sexual harassment are:
• What is sexual harassment. Give concrete examples of sexual harassment.
• The consequences of sexual harassment for both the victim and the perpetrator.
• How sexual harassment should be addressed.
• The prohibition of sexual harassment should be explicitly mentioned, for example in school rules. In addition, classes should draw up their own rules that also address this issue.
• In your schools, agree on which staff member is responsible for harassment and harassment-related issues. This person should also be known to the pupils. Pupils should also be aware of the adults to whom they can turn in the event of bullying and harassment. Children and young people should be reminded that it is ultimately up to adults to intervene in situations of harassment.
• Adults pay attention to their own behavior and the way they speak. Here are some things to look out for in your own interactions:
• Avoid stereotypical descriptions of gender, such as girls’ and boys’ colors, hobbies or behavior (crying like a girl, acting like a boy)
• Speak in a gender-neutral way. For example: ‘Ask your parents’ ‘Ask your friends…’ ‘You can ask your social partners to an event’
• Ask permission from children or young people if you need to touch them.
• Immediately address offensive language used by students regarding gender and sexuality. Remember that non-intervention or silence is acceptance of the behavior.
• Do not ask questions or make jokes about students’ intimate relationships. Refrain from making any sexually explicit comments or jokes.
• Schools should look at the presence of adults in children’s daily lives. In which situations do children or young people report harassment during the school day? How can the presence of adults can influence these situations?
• Harassment will be addressed whenever it is detected! Not intervening sends the message that the behavior is acceptable.

Prevent harassment on social media

Sexual harassment of children and young people in digital media is common among children and young people aged 12-17. According to a Save the Children survey, many young people agree to send sexually explicit pictures and videos to other young people. Organisations hope for more education in schools about the risks of sharing intimate images, for example.

• Almost a third of boys and around a fifth of girls think it is acceptable to ask for nude photos or videos from a boyfriend or girlfriend.
• Almost half of girls in secondary school and almost 60% of boys in high school agreed to send sexual images.
• 12% of girls and 8% of boys of secondary school age said they had sent a sexually explicit message, picture or video in the past year to someone they had not been in contact with outside the internet. This was the case for 16% of girls and 11% of boys in secondary school.

Professionals in different fields should raise awareness of the normalisation of sexual harassment on social media and spread awareness of what behaviour on social media should not be considered normal and acceptable. It is important that young people know what to do when they encounter sexual harassment on social media. Young people would like to hear about the dangers of social media and sexual harassment at school and at home, and how to deal with such situations. They also want to see support and help from the authorities to talk about and intervene in social media situations from outside.

Prevent sexual harassment on social media:

• Keep your social media channels private and block suspicious people.
• Do not accept everyone as a follower.
• Don’t tolerate people who don’t follow you and gather evidence if you are being harassed.
• If you are a victim of harassment, report it to the authorities or the channel’s administrator.
• Teach other users to recognise sexual harassment

How to identify sexual harassment?

Identifying sexual harassment can sometimes be difficult for both the victim and the teacher . You can recognise sexual harassment by the fact that you may be anxious, fearful, embarrassed by a situation involving some kind of sexual activity or discussion. In these situations, the victim may also feel guilty. However, guilt is futile, the harasser is always guilty and the victim innocent. Nothing you have done or failed to do makes you guilty of what happened!

A teacher or other adult in the school is best able to recognise harassment by the clear actions or speech they encounter during the school day. However, sometimes it is difficult to identify because some actions are highly dependent on the situation or context. In this case, the adult can talk to the pupils and ask them what their impression of the ambiguous situation is.

A teacher can identify a victim of sexual harassment by a change in a pupil’s behaviour compared to before. For example, the pupil may have mood swings or become withdrawn. The pupil may have unexplained absences from school. In such situations, the situation should be discussed with the pupil and, if possible, with the parents, and the possibility of bullying or harassment should be raised.

Exercises to identify and prevent sexual harassment

The exercises can be done in many different ways. For example, by making plays in which students have to identify sexual harassment or by playing games. Ready exercises are available on the EDDIS and SHEHAP projects’ websites.

A plan to protect students from violence, bullying and harassment

Preventing sexual harassment in schools is important. Sexual harassment should be discussed with students, teachers, staff and parents. Everyone should be informed about how to prevent, act and intervene in various situations of bullying and harassment. Schools should have clear plans for dealing with different types of bullying, harassment and violence. The plan should set out common rules and procedures. New pupils should be informed of the school’s common policy at the beginning of the school year. It is also a good idea to remind all pupils of the code of conduct at the beginning of the school year. Staff should also be aware of the code of conduct, and it should be included in the unit’s induction programme for new staff.

The plan should be drawn up in cooperation with the whole school community (teachers, pupils, school management, other staff). The plan should take into account the interactions between students and between students and adults in the institution.

For example, the Finnish National Board of Education has given instructions to describe the following when drawing up a plan:

• How the educational institution prevents and addresses bullying, violence and harassment
• How the above issues are dealt with at community, group and individual level
• How individual support, necessary treatment, other measures and follow-up will be provided for both the perpetrator and the victim
• Cooperation with carers
• Cooperation with the relevant authorities
• Familiarisation with and communication of the plan to staff, students, guardians and partners
• How the plan is updated, monitored and evaluated

The sexual harassment plan should be part of a larger plan, rather than a stand-alone plan, because the same plan also covers situations of bullying and violence and other inappropriate behaviour. The purpose of the plans is to support and guide the day-to-day activities of the institutions, to bring about the necessary changes and to become part of the everyday culture of safety.

By working together to develop a sexual harassment policy, it engages community members to act on it, which helps to ensure that no one is left alone in a situation. The preparation of the plan requires cross-sectoral collaboration, as it is put into practice as part of the work of all adults in the student community. Ensuring the involvement of students is important, as they too will need to commit to the plan and be familiar with its procedures. Cooperation with the homes already in the preparatory phase will facilitate the necessary cooperation, also in case of possible problems.

Pupil: if you experience sexual harassment

• If you encounter sexual harassment, tell the harasser how you feel and ask them to stop: “Stop it, that’s not ok!”, “What you are doing/saying is hurting me”
• If you are unable or unwilling to contact the harasser, or if the harassment continues despite your prohibitions, report it to a teacher, psychologist, curator, nurse, principal, or other trusted adult in the institution who has a duty to take action about the harassment that has come to their attention.
• Record, for follow-up, the time and place when the harassment occurred, who was present at the time and what happened in the situation
• Keep any evidence, e.g. web, text and email messages
• Also report any sexual harassment of others that you observe to an adult in the institution
• Use your right to psychological and curatorial services or school health services when you need support or help
• Access to student welfare services is always voluntary and confidential (note: in some situations, you must report to child protection and the police)

If you encounter sexual harassment on social media, do the following:

• In most cases, it is best not to reply to harassing messages.
• Depending on the situation, you can also clearly ask the respondent to stop posting or say that you do not like the messages in question.
• If the other party does not comply with your request, stop the conversation and prevent them from viewing your profile or sending messages.
• Tell a trusted adult about what happened
• If possible, take screenshots of the messages or save other evidence
• Also record usernames and information about when and where the harassment happened
• Contact the site administrator and report the harassment
• If necessary, report the incident to the police together with an adult
• Is there a service in your country where you can report harassment?
• You don’t have to think about things on your own, telling an adult will always help!

If you experience sexual harassment as a teacher or other adult at school:

• If you see/hear the harassment, stop the activity and condemn it
• Give positive feedback to the pupil if they have brought the harassment to your attention
• Tell the pupil that it is never their fault that they are being harassed
• Try to have the conversation in a calm environment. If the pupil wants to, they can bring a friend or a safe adult to support them in the conversation.
• Preferably have the discussion as soon as the harassment has been reported
• Listen to both sides
• Agree together on how to deal with the situation
• If a sexual offence is involved, the police should always be contacted. Discuss in school beforehand who will do this.
• Know where to go for further help in case of harassment (Agree together at school)

REMEMBER THAT…

You are playing your part in building a community where everyone feels comfortable.

LET’S RECAP THE INSTRUCTIONS IN A NUTSHELL:

Pupil:

If you are being harassed

• Tell the harasser to stop
• Report the harassment to an adult
• If the someone is harassing you, ask them to stop
• If necessary, seek counselling (nurse, psychologist, curator, crisis services)

If you are a bystander

• Recognise the harassment
• Intervene and condemn the behaviour
• Help the person being harassed if necessary
• Tell an adult at school

If you harass others

• Stop immediately! Your actions are causing distress and distress to others
• Apologize to the person you are harassing
• Many situations may be funny or a good joke to you but a really distressing or frightening experience for someone else.
• When you notice that the other person feels uncomfortable, stop and apologise.
• If you feel that harassment is a problem for you, please contact for example your school nurse, curator or psychologist

Teacher:

• Recognize sexual harassment
• Interrupt and condemn the harassment
• Discuss with those involved and take appropriate follow-up action
• Inform guardians and other school adults as appropriate

Other school staff:

• Interrupt and condemn the harassment
• Discuss with those concerned
• Inform the nearest teacher

School management:

• Keep the issue high on the agenda and present in school life: Zero tolerance for sexual harassment!
• Provide training for staff
• Create a safe culture

Links

• The Perceptions of Sexual Harassment among Adolescents of Four European Countries (mdpi.com)
• About one in five children in Europe are victims of some form of sexual violence (coe.int)
• Texts adopted – Sexual harassment in the EU and MeToo evaluation (europa.eu)
• Sexual harassment of women in the EU | Think Tank | European Parliament (europa.eu)
• MEPs propose measures to combat mobbing and sexual harassment (europa.eu)
• Violence and harassment across Europe much higher than official records | European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (europa.eu)
• Lanzarote Convention – Children’s Rights (coe.int)
• Violating sexist expectations can lead to sexual harassment | European Institute for Gender Equality (europa.eu)