Episode 2: Sexual Violence in Schools
(Hannah)
Hello, and welcome to the second episode of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre’s new podcast series. The Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre provides emotional and practical support to survivors of sexual violence, alongside working to change attitudes about gender based violence, and improve the experiences of survivors.
On this podcast, we discuss a whole host of issues such as sexual, and gender-based violence, trauma and the criminal justice system. Some of the issues that we discuss could cause distress, or may raise triggers for listeners – please see the content warning in the episode description before listening, and if you need to access support for an of the issues discussed in the podcast you can contact – Rape Crisis Scotland’s helpline which is open everyday 6pm-midnight on 08088 01 03 02.
Hi, I’m Hannah, I’m a Sexual Violence Prevention Worker at ERCC, and my role involves me delivering educational content to young people on the topic of sexual violence. Today, I’m joined by a young person that has recently left a school in Edinburgh, and they are also a survivor of sexual violence who is keen to use their experiences to raise awareness of the impact of sexual violence, and effect change for other young survivors. They have decided stay anonymous today, but will be sharing with me, some of their personal perspective, on the issue of sexual violence in schools.
This issue, is something that you may have seen has been making headlines over the last few months. The ‘Everyone’s Invited’ campaign, which was established in 2020, offers children and young people an opportunity to anonymously share accounts of sexual harassment and abuse that they have faced. This website has brought to many people’s attention, the culture that exists, and the behaviours that have for many young people become ‘normalised, or expected, and it also raises a lot of questions about the responses that many young people receive from their school, when they do make disclosures of sexual violence.
So, is it shocking to you, as a young person, to see all of these young people coming forward about their experiences of sexual violence in school?
(Young survivor)
Not at all, none of the stories I’ve read have surprised me and I think as women, across all intersections like race, sexuality and disability start to speak up and hold space for each other to be heard, we are actively dismantling the structures that keep us silent and ashamed. I find it incredibly powerful seeing so many people speak up and I hope as we continue to have these conversations that more and more people feel empowered to share as well. Given the UN’s study that showed men have harassed 97% of women aged 18-24, it’s not a matter of if a woman has experienced sexual violence, its when and how many times.
(Hannah)
Your personal experience, seems to be all too common, and, to date, there are more than 50,000 testimonies on this website, Everyone’s Invited, with more than 3,000 schools being named in these accounts. Over 30 schools within Edinburgh and the Lothians have been named so far.
In many conversations about sexual violence in schools, we hear people referring to a ‘rape culture’ that exists within educational institutions across the UK, and I think it would be really useful to describe what we mean when we say this.
So for those who maybe haven’t heard this term before: Rape culture refers to the normalisation of sexual violence. By this we mean that it’s often just accepted as part of everyday life and the seriousness of sexual violence is minimised. We often hear comments like ‘boys will be boys’ as a way of justifying sexual violence and more often than not these behaviours are not challenged enough. The problem with this is that if we exist in spaces where sexual violence is accepted or seen as harmless or funny then we might start to perceive these attitudes in that way as well, or if we experience these behaviours then it can make us feel that we shouldn’t be upset or that we should just ‘laugh it off’. In school settings some examples of this might be: bra pinging, lifting up skirts, non-consensual image sharing, sexual name calling, racialized forms of misogynistic abuse like pulling off someone’s hijab or making sexual comments that refer to racist stereotypes, and homophobic or transphobic bullying.
School staff and the institutions themselves can also be contributing to this culture through things like gendered uniform policies, policing of mostly young women by staff (for example asking girls not to wear short skirts as it’ll distractions from boys) and having different behavioural expectations or standards based on gender.
(Young survivor)
I think understanding the roots of rape culture are imperative for seeing where it manifests on the daily and everything you’ve said, all those examples are definitely things I’ve seen take place in schools. We operate in a rape culture because of society’s and social institutions binary and oppressive understandings of gender and sexuality and is inextricably linked with intersecting marginalised identities such as class, race, being trans and disability to name a few.
In schools, rape culture looks like the responsibility constantly being shifted from perpetrator’s onto survivors. Women, especially girls of colour, are hypersexualised and adultificated from a really young age. They are objectified, and when they get assaulted, girls are expected to prioritise our perpetrator’s future and their right to not have as Brock Turner’s judge said in court “20 minutes ruin the rest of his life”. Our healing is secondary after being palatable to others, not making a fuss or taking up too much space because no one wants to hear about your trauma and what their friends, students, classmates are doing.
Rape culture in schools looks like Asian girls being constantly compared to porn stars but it’s just a “joke”. It looks like my teachers telling me not to go to the parties when known rapists were going instead of having interventions with the boys.
It looks like consent classes centring boys who are more afraid of being falsely accused than afraid of the fact that most girls in the class will or have faced sexual violence. It looks like no one being surprised when a friend shares yet another story of an unconsensual encounter she’s subjected to.
(Hannah)
I think, although some people might not be familiar with the term ‘rape culture’, a lot of what you have just said will feel and sound familiar to lots of people, when we reflect on our own experiences at school. And, as you say, so much of this behaviour is brushed off, minimised or laughed about that it can begin to obscure the real harm that this can cause to young people who have these kinds of experiences at school. I think we really need to be having more conversations about the impacts that this has on young people.
(Young survivor)
Absolutely, I think the reality for many people and myself at school was that the school and teachers viewed sexual violence as a phenomenon to be expected and impossible to prevent whilst also being a nuisance and inconvenience for the school to deal with. This just resulted in us having to exist with fellow students who literally wouldn’t and didn’t see us as fully human. Sexual violence requires the perpetrator to remove the humanity and right to agency and body autonomy from their victim so I was sharing spaces with people who didn’t see me as more than my body or a sexual commodity to be consumed for their own pleasure. And that is terrifying for someone young – anyone in fact. The tangible danger of seeing that others sexualised my existence, and I would be harassed assaulted or raped, and on top of that it was my responsibility to prevent it (even though I never could), then deal with it alone, be palatable in the aftermath, not make too much fuss or take up too much space is traumatic for the body and mind. I’ve sat in classrooms whilst a 15-year-old boy says that it is a survivors responsibility to come forward, completely unaware that he was sat with 9 girls in the room who were all survivors. I no longer feel shocked when girls I know, and love say that because their experiences aren’t rape, they don’t matter. Its fucking tiring.
(Hannah)
I think you’ve been really raw and honest there, about the impact that sexual violence in school can, and does have, thank you for that. I want to talk a little bit more about the extent of this issue. Before we recorded this podcast, we asked our followers on Instagram some questions about their experiences of sexual violence in schools, and 98% of them said that they, or someone they knew, had experienced sexual violence while at school. Sexual violence in school isn’t a new problem, but it is also something that doesn’t seem to be going away. I think a lot of people might be surprised to hear about how many young people, especially young women and girls, experience sexual violence while they are in school. Of course, we do all hope that schools are safe spaces for children and young people, but clearly this isn’t the case for so many. So what do you feel it is, that is going so wrong?
(Young survivor)
Reports are not being given the adequate reaction and support that they deserve, and safe places aren’t provided in the first place to ensure pupils don’t feel alone when they are subjected to sexual violence. Schools, particularly private schools that are more concerned with their reputation than holding pupils accountable whilst simultaneously supporting survivors. This is resulting in an environment that teaches perpetrators they are completely safe and valid in their actions because they face no intervention and the school’s unwillingness to engage in supporting survivors furthers rape culture. The overriding message time and time again is that a survivor’s pain is an inconvenience and dramatic. Schools are teaching our education about healthy sex and sexual violence as a tick the box topic rather than a vital thing that needs to be engaged with constantly and over the course of our school careers.
(Hannah)
Sex education is a really interesting and important point actually. We also asked our followers on Instagram, how many of them had been taught anything about sexual violence, while they were in school. 84% of our followers said that sexual violence was never discussed when they were in school. You’re 19, and so you left school fairly recently, can you tell us a bit about your experience of sex education, and how issues like sexual harassment, and sexual violence were approached?
(Young survivor)
I think we discussed sex education and sexual violence 3 or 4 times formally in the 6 years of secondary school I had. The conversations were heteronormative, awkward and given by teachers that often didn’t want to be there and felt embarrassed. Teachers were quick to validate every opinion in the room, which at face value seems like an effective method in terms of having an open and honest conversation. However, this is an easy rabbit hole into legitimatising opinions and perspectives that are informed and perpetuate rape culture. This was perfectly encapsulated when at 15 we watched a video of a woman being raped at a party and then we discussed whether it was rape or not and the conclusion when class finished was that she had 20% consented and 80% been raped. That kind of environment in no way encourages survivors to speak up, and many times these missed opportunities to have comprehensive conversations, replaced by toxic conversations that only maintain and perpetuate harmful views.
(Hannah)
That sounds like a conversation around sexual violence that potentially does more harm than good. This is something that obviously I’m really interested in, and passionate about. I feel that education is one of the most effective tools that we have to tackle rape culture. The sexual violence prevention programme, has been designed to provide education and primary prevention in schools and other settings across Scotland. We deliver workshops on things like gender and sexualisation, consent, pornography, the impacts of sexual violence, among other topics. All of the work that we do has a gendered analysis, at the core of it – and we try to provide young people with a space to reflect on, and question many of the harmful narratives, around sex, sexuality, race, relationships, beauty etc that are reproduced by society, and can end up shaping attitudes and behaviours.
Sexual violence is a really complex issue, so I do sympathise as you say that schools often tackle it in ineffective ways. We know that, our input is really valuable to schools and young people and we would encourage schools to seek that specialist input on this really important and complex issue.
The right education for young people, is one piece of the puzzle, and obviously part of our programme as well is encouraging young people to recognise their own experiences of sexual violence and seek support, if they want to. There are other issues that need to be addressed when it comes to sexual violence in schools, and more solutions are needed.
Rape Crisis Scotland, have identified is that many schools and teachers know that they have to take action to address the issue but they don’t know where to start or they don’t have the resources or the time to do it on their own. in response to this, Rape Crisis Scotland launched Equally Safe at School – a holistic, whole school approach to preventing gender-based violence where all secondary schools will have access to a free suite of online tools and resources to help them understand the problem and implement a set of holistic measures, with staff and students working together to promote equality and prevent sexual violence.
Secondly, as a network, we have developed a guidance document for schools across Scotland to provide staff with information about supporting pupils who are survivors of sexual violence.
The guidance gives advice on best practice for schools around responding to disclosures, making adjustments for pupils, and outlines the practical and emotional considerations that should be made, to try to improve the experiences of survivors in school, and create an environment where young people feel more comfortable to disclose.
(Young survivor)
I remember reading the Equally Safe at School guidance and really being struck by the sense of empowerment that it provides survivors with and I think its such a good and important model that I really hope schools continue and if not already engage with. That sense of empowerment to survivors and this was was something completely missing in my experience at school. I think our discourse often surrounds what leads and causes sexual violence rather than how to cope and heal after being subjected to it so it leaves survivors in a limboland where those responsible for us at school are not equipped with the resources and even emotional maturity sometimes to fully understand what Is going on. Life doesn’t end after one is assaulted or raped and schools play a huge role in what the aftermath looks like. Survivors deserve the right to heal and have space held for them as they reclaim their body autonomy- school’s must serve as active participants in a pupils support network and they have the power to do so.
(Hannah)
So, in your opinion, what is it that, you think that schools need to be doing differently, in order to better support young people who do come forward and disclose their experiences of sexual violence?
(Young survivor)
It’s such a difficult question to answer as there are so many different routes and I think taking a blanket approach to everyone isn’t going to be the answer. Firstly, a hard pill that schools must swallow is that as they improve their processes of dealing with sexual violence, they are going to receive more pupils coming forward. This is a good thing. Whether pupils come forward or not, sexual violence IS taking place in schools and so schools must see increases in incidents reported to them as a sign that pupils feel more comfortable rather than there is a bigger issue. To ensure a safer space is created, schools need to improve accountability processes that make sure all of the actions are survivor led based and driven. This means that at every step of the process, the survivor is informed, given the opportunity to voice their wants and needs and given decision making abilities about how best to provide an environment and situation for them to heal. This can look like a survivor being informed how the school plans to deal with the perpetrator, the survivor being asked who they want to share their story with, being asked what they need, being given space to leave classes or the school when feeling triggered, being provided with a safe space on school grounds they can always go to, being given resources that could come from Edinburgh Rape Crisis such as the Star Project that provides counselling or the advocacy team which would help a pupil going through the justice system. All these things ensure the survivor knows exactly what is going on and is in control. Sexual violence takes away our body autonomy and agency so when schools also exclude survivors from their own healing journeys and refuse to share information and they are forced to remain passive, it is incredibly retraumatising.
Also, schools need to factor in other oppressive systems such as racism, transphobia and classism when dealing with sexual violence. For example, schools that use blanket approaches such as working with the police do not encourage pupils of colour to come forward and be open about their experiences because the police have never served them. There are complex risk factors that could further endanger survivors if schools don’t take into account the police’s institutional racism.
Sexual violence is incredibly hard to navigate and requires insane amounts of nuance and awareness. But ignoring it isn’t going to make it go away. Today, yesterday and tomorrow, survivors are walking into schools and everyday being failed. And potential perpetrators are walking into schools and due to lack of education and the existing rape culture, are forming ideas of their entitlement to other bodies and this is going to result in sexual violence. Schools have so much power to step up and really reckon with these issues and have a hugely positive impact.
(Hannah)
You make such a strong case for survivors being centred in schools repsonses, and this is something that we are constantly advocating for. A specific scenario, that this always comes up for is when a survivor is sharing their learning environment with a perpetrator. We also see that this scenario is mentioned countless times by survivors who have contributed their stories to the ‘Everyone’s Invited’ campaign and I know this is something you have personal perspective on. So what is it about the way that this is currently handled that needs to change, in your opinion?
(Young survivor)
I think we really have to take time to not underestimate what it does to survivors and the impact of being in and sharing spaces with someone who has caused them that much harm. Taking the time and energy to really consider the daily routines of each student and each student’s needs is revolutionary when it comes to protecting their safety and space. Actively rearranging timetables, changing routes to class, changing perpetrators to other classes (because survivors shouldn’t have to leave the spaces) can make all the difference. Sharing a class with someone who has violated you is so dehumanising and there are too many cases of people sharing daily classes or changing rooms or bathrooms which, if schools cared enough and understand the severity of survivor’s trauma, they could cater to this easily.
It is as simple as talking to survivors about what they want and where and when they feel unsafe. Also, things like school trips are so easy to factor in and yet are systematically forgotten and brushed aside which results in the responsibility of preventing this contact falling into the survivor’s lap where they then need to approach people organising the trip or teachers about separating people in classes and moving them. Survivors shouldn’t have to inform teachers they don’t have close relationships with about their experiences just to be moved, management needs to take that responsibility properly onboard and deliver.
(Hannah)
I think it’s so clear, hearing from you as a young person, and as a survivor, that there is so much more that needs to be done to change the culture in schools, to create spaces where young people feel safe, and that they will be cared for if they do experience sexual violence in school, but I think it’s also important to say that it isn’t all down to schools themselves to change this narrative. It has to be a group effort, and we hope that we, as an organisation can be there to support schools in order to change this story.
Young people themselves can also affect change, if they are given the right support, and the best tools. There also needs to be policy change that comes from higher up within education – keeping young people safe in school has to be a top priority – nothing can ‘get in the way’ of this. Young people, especially survivors, need to have confidence that their school will support them if they make a disclosure of sexual violence but more than that: Young people need to feel safe in the knowledge that their school is doing the work to ensure that they don’t have to exist within a culture of sexual violence and misogyny.
(Young survivor)
As someone who has gone to Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre and used your resources before and as someone who has seen how the way schools deal with sexual violence makes such a difference – to all survivors who are listening to this, I hope you know that organisations like Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre have your back. You are not alone and what someone did to you was not and will never be your fault. If your school is failing you, this doesn’t mean you can’t access support or will never be free of the responsibility that rape culture is putting on you. We all and you deserve to heal and there are communities and people out there who are rooting for you at every step of the way. The day I walked into the Star Project I left the office for the first time in months feeling hopeful and that celebration of feeling just a little bit more like me was lifesaving. You are powerful and whilst schools improve their support for you, you are valid in your anger and demand for better.
(Hannah)
Thank you so much for that and it’s so powerful of you to share with us about your experiences and it’s so positive to hear of an account of the change and positive impact that the Star Project had in your life. For those of you who don’t know the Star Project is a specialist service at Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre which works with young people, alongside our adult services. We support people who’ve experienced any form form of sexual violence at any time in their lives. So even if you’re listening to this and you’re thinking of your experiences that you had in school many moons ago, our services are there for you. It’s never too late to reach out.
I think that’s a really nice place to end on your account on the positive impact that the Star Project had on your life and your assurances to survivors that there are these organisations there for you to support and as a survivor you deserve to heal. As you have said, if you have been affected by sexual violence at any time in your life, or anything we discussed in the podcast today – there is confidential support available to you, please do reach out if you’d like to. You can contact Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre by e-mail or phone, or you can call the Rape Crisis Scotland helpline for support between 6pm and midnight every night. All of the support details will be in the description of this podcast, and can also be found on our website. Thank you so much to our guests today, and thanks to you for listening.