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Wolf whistles and upskirting: how can girls navigate the daily obstacle course of sexual harassment?

Wolf whistles and upskirting: how can girls navigate the daily obstacle course of sexual harassment?

As an all girls’ school, we provide a space in which girls’ intellectual and social confidence can flourish, free from gender stereotypes and the endemic sexual harassment of girls that seems to be occurring in our society. According to recent research from Girlguiding’s annual Girls’ Attitude Survey, sexual harassment is a top concern for girls and young women. 64% of girls and young women aged 13-21 say they have experienced sexual harassment at school.

A study in 2017 by the National Education Union (NEU) and UK Feminista, in which researchers spoke to 1,508 students and 1,634 teachers, showed that more than one in three girls in mixed-sex secondary schools have been sexually harassed while at school and 24% have been subjected to unwanted physical touching of a sexual nature. Almost one in three teachers in mixed-sex secondary schools said they see sexual harassment in school on at least a weekly basis, and 64% said they hear sexist language weekly.

Continuing this shocking rollcall of statistics, last year’s Girlguiding survey showed that 39% of girls aged 11-21 said they had experienced or seen girls having their bra straps pulled by boys in the last week; 27% said they had experienced or seen boys pulling girls’ skirts up in the last week. Three quarters of the girls interviewed by the 2018 Girls’ Attitude Survey said anxiety about potentially experiencing sexual harassment affects their lives in some way, with a quarter saying that this prevents them from speaking up in class.

Sadly, we cannot protect our children all the time – another horrifying statistic shows that more than a third of adolescent girls have been sexually harassed in public whilst wearing their school uniform – but we can at least make sure that at St Mary’s, and in our homes, we provide a safe and supportive environment, and that we give them the emotional tools they need, such as resilience and confidence, to tackle challenges and overcome them. We can all as a society continue to challenge this outdated and archaic behaviour where women and girls are objectified and limited by gender stereotypes.

Being in an all girls’ environment like St Mary’s gives girls the confidence and leadership skills they need to take on the world. Being at an all girls’ school also gives girls and young women the confidence to throw themselves into STEM subjects: 70% more girls in single-sex schools took maths than the national average and 50% more took science subjects. From the Junior School up, our girls take part in a wide variety of STEM activities, from success in the RoboCup Championships to launching the Her Story exhibition at the Women in Computing Festival 2018.

At St Mary’s, we prepare our girls for the future, not only through our digital strategy and STEM activities, but also by equipping them with the skills and values that they will need to pursue a life of fulfilment. St Mary’s girls are resilient, confident and curious. St Mary’s girls have attitude; they are not afraid to speak out in the name of injustice and are compassionate girls who care for others. As an example of this, our Sixth Form Prefect Team is currently campaigning to end Period Poverty, which stops many girls around the world from having access to a full education. To start off their campaign, they are currently aiming to collect 120 boxes of sanitary products before 20 October (as it is the school’s 120th birthday this year). Our Junior School girls also learn to be ‘Rebel Girls’ through our class names, each named after a courageous and inspiring woman. Our girls will no doubt continue the fight for gender equality here and around the world – but let’s hope that through our own positive actions and attitudes, and by challenging the unjust attitudes of others, we can continue to challenge sexist stereotypes and make the world a much better place before they head out into the world themselves.