Have you been sexually harassed in school? What female high school students regard as harassment

Abstract

The aim of the study was to explore what behaviors experienced from peers and school staff at school are acknowledged as sexual harassment, and perceived as problematic, by female high school students, and what other factors may be relevant. Analyses were performed of responses (to 540 questionnaires) in an anonymous self-report mail survey from a random sample of female Swedish high-school students (59% response rate). Exposure to relevant behaviors, of varying levels of severity, alone, does not explain the acknowledgment of harassment. Many students were subjected to many of the potentially offensive behaviors without labeling them as sexual harassment, despite the fact that they saw many of them as problematic. Further, viewing the relevant behaviors as problems in one's school did not necessarily lead to acknowledging that sexual harassment in general was a problem. However, the behaviors seen as problems were less likely to be dismissed as sexual harassment than personal experiences. This was especially true of the most common behaviors, namely verbal ones. The results demonstrate female students' reluctance to label incidents as sexual harassment, despite the fact that actual behaviors are perceived as environmental problems. Potentially offensive sex-related behaviors become normalized in the school environment and are difficult to address, when little support is provided by schools.

Perceived Experiences With Sexism Among Adolescent Girls

“…In our study, we do not know the degree to which girls' reports corresponded to the actual incidence of sexist events. A few prior studies indicate that adolescent girls (Terrance et al, 2004;Witkowska & Gådin, 2005) and women (Bergman, Langhout, Palmieri, Cortina, & Fitzgerald, 2002;Knapp, Faley, Ekeberg, & Dubois, 1997) tend to underestimate the amount of sexual harassment and other forms of sexism targeted at them (viz. the personal/group discrimination discrepancy; Crosby, 1984).…”

“…Yet, although gender-stereotyped beliefs reflect (and perpetuate) gender inequities, few studies have directly examined girls' perceptions of those gender inequities. The existing research suggests that girls often tolerate and/or do not recognize sexual harassment when it occurs (Terrance, Logan, & Peters, 2004;Witkowska & Gådin, 2005). Studies also indicate that girls' experiences with sexual harassment increase with age during adolescence (McMaster, Connolly, Pepler, & Craig, 2002;Pepler et al, 2006).…”

Sexual jokes at school and psychological complaints: Student- and class-level associations

“…Sexual harassment is a common problem in schools, and therefore often normalised by students [1]. According to the Swedish Discrimination Act [2], sexual harassment refers to actions of a sexual nature that violate someone’s dignity, and is classified as a form of discrimination.…”

Helping and Hindering Undergraduate Women’s STEM Motivation: Experiences With STEM Encouragement, STEM-Related Gender Bias, and Sexual Harassment

“…Second, in the current research study, we asked participants to report how often they had experienced sexual harassment and STEM-related gender bias after broadly describing each of these forms of discrimination. Past research among adolescent girls found that labeling sexual harassment explicitly may lead to underreporting (Witkowska & Gådin, 2005). This may happen because women do not want to view or label themselves as a victim (Crosby, 1984).…”