Girls of color are more likely to face sexual harassment at school, according to a survey conducted by Girlguiding, UK’s largest female youth organization.
The study found that two thirds of all girls have suffered sexual harassment at school from fellow students.
Girls of color were more likely to be the victims of sexual harassment both in school and in public areas away from the school gates.
For instance, 40 percent of girls of color were subjected to stalking in school compared to 25 percent of white girls, the study found.
“School should be a safe space where I and other girls can thrive,” said Girlguiding member Henrietta. “Yet I think I speak for all girls when I say that I’m fed up with the culture and dismissal of our experiences, and of the relentless barrage of abuse and harassment we endure both at school and in public.”
“Not a day goes by when I don’t hear boys making sexual jokes or hear of friend’s experiences of sexual harassment,” the 16-year-old said. “Attitudes and culture must change if we are to get to the root of the problem and stop damaging girls’ wellbeing, confidence and self-esteem.”
The survey included more than 420 respondents and the age group was 13 to 18.
Another finding was that eight in 10 girls said they didn’t feel safe when they went outside independently.
More than half of the girls said they avoid going out when it’s dark. This fear was expressed by 46 percent white respondents, 68 percent of girls of color, and 63 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer girls.
“The scale of sexual harassment that girls and young women experience as shown in Girlguiding’s research is appalling. This needs to change. Girls and young women have a right to feel and be safe at all times of the day and night,” Girlguiding CEO Angela Salt said.
“Girlguiding is calling for the culture of harassment to be recognized and tackled wherever it occurs. The burden mustn’t fall on girls and young women to have to change this on their own.”
Andrea Simon, director of End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: “It’s telling that the everyday experience of young black women and girls is one of racialized sexual harassment. We can’t separate race from sexual harassment because it is based on their whole identities. Harassment and abuse often uses racist stereotypes and insults.”
One of the 10 respondents said sexual harassment affected their focus at school, detrimentally impacting their ability to learn.
The survey comes a week after a troubling new report by the UK’s school watchdog Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted).
The report, which talked to more than 900 children and young people, revealed that boys distribute explicit images of girls with each other via social media like a “collection game.”
More worryingly, the survey found that sexual harassment has become so common that some children do not even report it to school administration.
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