#EveryonesInvited: Over half of girls have been sexually harassed at school

More than 10,000 school pupils have submitted allegations of sexual violence and abuse to a website gathering testimonies of rape culture. Launched in June 2020, the #EveryonesInvited movement has been hailed "#MeToo for schools."

Though launched last year, #EveryonesInvited recently gained momentum in the aftermath of Sarah Everard's suspected murder in March, which prompted protests and a national conversation about the extent of violence against women, girls, and marginalised genders in the UK.

In the wake of this deluge of allegations submitted to the site, many of which centre on independent schools (non-state schools), a girls rights charity has released new figures on the extent of sexual harassment experienced by school girls.

More than half of girls have been sexually harassed at their place of learning, according to this new research from Plan International UK.

Plan UK's findings show that 58 percent of girls aged 14 to 21 in the UK have been publicly sexually harassed at their place of learning – be that on school grounds, or their college or university campus. Of those girls, 66 percent were harassed by a person from their school, college, or university.

The sexual harassment included being catcalled or wolf-whistled (26 percent), receiving unwanted sexual comments (22 percent), being followed (12 percent), and being grabbed (10 percent).

The Plan UK research also comes just weeks after U.N. Women UK released figures that 97 percent of young women aged between 18 and 24 had experienced sexual harassment in public places.

The #EveryonesInvited website stated that 10,324 testimonies had been submitted at the time of writing this story. A statement on the dedicated website thanked the survivors for sharing their stories. "Much of the behaviour described within these testimonies is the product of a culture that normalises and trivialises these actions," reads the statement. "Growing up, we were socialised to believe that this behaviour was acceptable. Now having read the testimonies everyone can understand the profound weight of everyone's actions."

Gavin Williamson, UK Education Secretary, tweeted that "the allegations that I have heard in recent days are shocking and abhorrent." But, as many have pointed out, the rape culture allegations are not remotely shocking to women, girls, and marginalised genders. While much of these allegations are leveled at elite private schools in the UK, it's important to note that rape culture is not unique to people in the private school system, it's rife throughout state schools too.

In the wake of the #EveryonesInvited movement, Plan UK says it's calling for the culture of harassment to be "recognised and tackled."

"It is appalling that so many girls and young women have experienced harassment in an educational environment," Rose Caldwell, CEO of Plan International UK, said in a statement.   "School, college and university should be a safe space for girls to learn. Instead, just like in high streets, parks and bus stops, they are facing relentless harassment every day and they want it to stop."

Caldwell added that schools need to be instrumental in dealing with this issue through education and responding appropriately when harassment is reported to staff. "This can be done by educating boys on respect and consent, taking girls’ concerns seriously, and providing information and support on dealing with harassment," she said. Caldwell also encouraged boys and young men to join the fight against rape culture and sexual harassment.

“Boys can play their part too, by calling out harassment when they see it and being proactive bystanders," she said. "Only with a concerted effort from all sides will we finally end the scourge of public sexual harassment that blights so many girls’ lives, so that they can flourish both in and out of education."

In the fight against violence and harassment against women and girls, we absolutely need men and boys to be part of the conversation.