Education sector yet to learn lessons of #MeToo, critics say

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/15/education-sector-yet-learn-lessons-metoo-critics-say

Version 0 of 1.

Just over three years ago, a report by the Commons women and equalities committee uncovered the alarming scale of sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools across England.

It began in primary school, where girls were too scared to wear skirts in case their pants were pulled down, and continued through secondary school, where girls had their bottoms slapped, skirts flicked, were called names, bullied over nude pictures shared on social media, assaulted and raped.

A 2017 survey by the girl guiding Girlguiding movement confirmed the committee’s grim conclusions – 64% of girls and women aged 13 to 21 had experienced sexual harassment at school in the previous year. “The fact that sadly this sort of thing is happening did not come as a surprise,” said Julie McCulloch, the director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders. “But the scale of it was shocking.”

Two years on, the literature of #MeToo is coming of age | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

While the #MeToo movement started an important conversation within institutions, campaigners say authorities in the public sector and elsewhere are still not doing enough to either prevent such behaviour or respond appropriately when it happens.

The Department for Education has issued guidance on tackling sexual violence and harassment in schools, which McCulloch said had been useful, and sex and relationships education (SRE) will be compulsory in England from next year. As a parent of two teenage girls, McCulloch thinks the #MeToo movement has been a hugely positive influence: “It’s given girls and young women more of a voice.”

However, another mother, whose teenage daughter was raped by a classmate, disagreed. “My view is that the #MeToo movement hasn’t really helped in schools, as those affected there are still so young. They don’t yet have the confidence to call it out.”

Andrea Simon from the End Violence Against Women campaign said: “The #MeToo movement exposed the scale and seriousness of sexual violence and harassment, and whilst we want women and girls to feel confident to report what has happened to them, we must see authorities doing more to respond appropriately and focus on prevention.”

In UK universities, the problem of sexual misconduct by students and staff towards students has been well documented in recent years. Many institutions have introduced consent workshops and improved staff training to try to address the problem, but campaigners say it is not enough.

“In practice, there has been little change in the higher education sector in the UK in terms of institutional accountability for sexual- and gender-based violence since #MeToo, and institutions have been slow to implement preventive solutions,” said Dr Tiffany Page, a lecturer at Cambridge University and co-founder of the 1752 group, which campaigns to end sexual misconduct in higher education.

Alison Phipps, a professor of gender studies at the University of Sussex, said: “I think some very brave survivors have come forward and we have had some very high-profile ‘scalps’, but genuine change in the sector will take a long time.” However, she welcomed the way in which #MeToo has brought survivors together.

In the NHS there has also been insufficient progress. A recent survey found one in five doctors had been sexually harassed in the last three years or had witnessed sexual harassment at work, including groping, touching and explicit text messages. The perpetrators were mostly patients (17%), according to the Medscape online survey of just under 1,400 hospital doctors and GPs. Just 3% of cases involved fellow medics or nurses.

“We’ve got a long way to go,” said Dr Julia Patterson, who coordinates EveryDoctor, a 25,000-strong campaigning forum for doctors. She said #MeToo had enabled conversations about the gender pay gap and equality of opportunity for male and female doctors. “It’s a very interesting subject in the NHS. Until maybe a couple of years ago, around the #MeToo time, it was not spoken about very much,” she said.

“[#MeToo] has brought the conversation so far. Women are perhaps feeling more empowered to speak up, and to speak to other people, but not enough has been done practically.”

The impact of #MeToo has also been felt in the police, though Michelle Skeer, the chief constable of Cumbria police and president of the British Association for Women in Policing, defended her force’s record on dealing with sexual harassment and gender equality. She added: “The #MeToo movement has brought about positive change for women in many areas of society.

“The movement has acted as a catalyst to get conversations going around sexual harassment in life, as well as in the workplace, providing a platform and the confidence for numerous women to share their experiences. Our stance on sexual harassment remains clear, that it is never acceptable. It is vital to keep conversations going to raise awareness and encourage reporting.”