FINDINGS from a new survey of all secondary schools in Thurrock conducted by the End Violence Against Women Coalition published today (3 July) show that local schools currently make a low priority of girls’ safety and tackling abuse of women and girls – even though almost half of them dealt with incidents related to sexual violence, sexual harassment, pornography and intimate partner violence over the last year.
However, the EVAW Coalition added that Thurrock has good policies on violence against women and girls and has great potential to become a lead borough in ensuring girls are safe and supported at school.
The Jimmy Savile revelations and multiple child sexual exploitation convictions all over the country have emphasised the urgent need for schools and every other agency working with young people to be proactive in preventing and detecting abuse.
A questionnaire was sent to all Thurrock state secondary schools this year and has been completed by all of them (twelve).
It is known that, nationally, a third of girls experience sexual harassment at school; a third of girls experience sexual violence from a partner; 750,000 witness domestic violence each year; 20,000 are at risk of femal genital mutilation (FGM) (see statistics at Note 2). The Thurrock survey findings show that despite these local schools may not be actively tackling them or ensuring victims have access to specialist support:
Five of the twelve schools reported that they had dealt with incidents of abuse of girls over the last year – including sexual violence, sexual harassment, intimate partner violemce, trafficking and abuse related to pornography. Seven schools reported that they had no incidents reported over the last year; this should be examined closely in light of what is known about the high levels of abuse in girls’ lives;
Only one school in Thurrock has a designated person leading on tackling abuse of women and girls. No school has a specific policy on violence against women and girls, although most said these issues are covered in other policies on bullying, safeguarding and child protection;
Researchers were pleased to find that 11 of the 12 secondary schools in Thurrock are currently covering violence against women and girls in the school curriculum (giving students a chance to discuss the issues in PSHE and Citizenship lessons; this is despite it not being mandatory to do so;
Barriers identified by schools to better attention to preventing and detecting abuse of girls included lack of time and lack of training.
EVAW Coalition Director Holly Dustin said:
“We are pleased that all the schools in Thurrock recognised the importance of these issues by responding to our survey. We are sure this means their doors are open for ongoing discussion with parents, the wider community and experts on how they can improve their work to prevent abuse.
“However the results do seem to show that at present abuse of girls is a low priority for Thurrock schools – no policies, no senior leads, apparently little discussion with young people in class, little teacher training, and no recent reports which may indicate that girls do not feel safe to come forward at school.
“We know from research about the scale of abuse in girls’ lives – including abuse in teenage relationships, sexual harassment at school, abuse related to ‘sexting’, or abuse in the family or by other adults outside school.
Teachers and other adults in school may be the only trusted adults some girls can disclose to, but this will not happen if schools are not proactive in talking about the issues and ensuring teachers are trained to respond to them.”
Lee Eggleston MBE for South Essex Rape & Incest Crisis Centre (SERICC) said:
“The survey exposes the fact that sexual violence and abuse are real in Thurrock and affecting the lives of young people.
“In Thurrock we have the building blocks in place to help every girl feel safe when they are at school. Thurrock could be a pioneer in addressing the issues of sexual violence, but we need everybody on board, particularly schools, school leaders, parents, local politicians and the whole community.”
