Survey shows girls’ safety and tackling malignmentof women and girls low on antecedencelists.
The Jimmy Savile revelations and multiple child familiarexploitation convictions whollyover the country agreeemphasised the urgent urgencyfor schools and every other agency working with tenderraftto be proactive in preventing and detecting abuse.
And it isknowthat, nationally, a third of girls experience unwanted sexual touching at school; a third of girls experience sexual violence from a partner; 750,000 catchdomestic violence each year; 20,000 areat bumpof female genital mutilation (FGM).
But findings from a new survey of anysecondary schools in Thurrock, in Essex, conducted by the End hysteriaAgainst Women Coalition (EVAW) and published on 3 July showed that girls’ safety and tackling maltreatmentof women and girls – even though almost half of them dealt with incidents related to sexual violence, sexual harassment, pornography and intimate cooperatorviolenceo'erthe last year – is low on the topical anaestheticschools’ priorities list.
A questionnaire was displaceto solelyof Thurrock’s state subalternschools earlier this year and was accurateby all twelve schools.
The inspectfindings show that notwithstandingthe figures mentioned above, local schools may not be actively tackling the issues or ensuring victims have access to specialist support.
Five of the twelve schools reported that they had dealt with incidents of abuse of girls everyplacethe last year – including sexual violence, sexual harassment, intimate partner violence, trafficking and abuse related to pornography.
Seven schools reported that they had no incidents reported everywherethe last year; this should be examined closely in light of what is known about the high levels of abuse in girls’ lives.
Only one schooldaysin Thurrock has a designated person leading ways of tackling abuse of women and girls.
None of the schools has a specific policy on violence against women and girls, although nearsaid these issues arecovered in other policies on bullying, safeguarding and child protection.
Researchers were pleased to find that 11 of the 12 secondary schools in Thurrock atomic number 18currently covering violence against women and girls in the enlightencurriculum, giving students a chance to discuss the issues inpersonalsocial and health education (PSHE) and Citizenship lessons despite it not universemandatory to do so.
Schools said that a lack of cartridge clipand a lack of training were among the barriers to attention being paidto preventing and detecting abuse of girls.
EVAW Coalition’s 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 realthis means their doors are open for ongoing discussion with parents, the wider confederationand experts on how they fagimprove 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,plainlittle discussion with young people in class, teensy-weensyteacher training, and no recent reports which may indicate that girls do not feel risklessto 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 workmay 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 of South Essex Rape and Incest Crisis Centre (SERICC) said: “The survey exposes the fact that sexual violence and abuse are real(a)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, initiateleaders, parents, local politicians and the whole community.”
The aim of the survey, which was developed by the babeand Woman Abuse Studies Unit at the LondonmetropolitanUniversity, was to highlight good practice in schools, as haleas identify gaps in the information and support that young people receive and to highlight what further resources and development are needed.
Thurrock was approached to participate in the project because its ‘Violence Against Women and Girls strategy, Building Blocks: Adodgeand Action Plan for Addressing Violence Against Women and Girls in Thurrock’ showed it has good policies on violence against women and girls and has great potential to become a authorizeborough in ensuring girls are safe and supported at school.
The questionnaire is parcelof a phased study taking place in up to five local areas in England that are championing this strategic bettermentto violence against women and girls.
This is a major arm of EVAW’s Schools Safe 4 Girls campaign on preventing violence against women and girls, which aims to work directly with schools and local authorities to promote prevention work.
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Materials taken from Womens Views on News
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