A new study on the concerning rise in sexism, misogyny, and sexual harassment in schools has been released in the wake of a disturbing number of alleged sexual assault cases by teen boys across Sydney in recent weeks.
Following the alleged sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl by three teen boys in Sydney’s south-west and the alleged sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl by one 13- and two 14-year-old boys, the research reveals the scale of gendered violence in our schools.
Conducted by Monash University, the survey found 78 per cent of teachers had observed or experienced sexism or misogyny at school, with one in three encountering it frequently.
The finding also points to the growing influence of misogynistic and manosphere-type content online. Some 95 per cent of teachers believed some of their students access this type of content, while 70 per cent noticed its influence on students’ attitudes and behaviour in the past year. One in four teachers said they believe as many as half of their students were consuming the concerning content.
For female teachers, the influence is far more prevalent and far more concerning. One in three said gendered violence had at some point made them think of leaving their profession, while 16 per cent said it was a frequent consideration.
One participating teacher with over a decade of experience teaching in schools shared their own harrowing encounter with such behaviour.
“I have personally experienced and bore witness to male students verbally and physically assaulting female staff and sexually harassing staff both in and outside the classroom. All for it to be considered as students simply ‘misbehaving’,” they said.
Lead researcher Dr Stephanie Wescott said schools had become “unbearably hostile places to work” for some educators, despite being workplaces subject to the same health and safety and anti-discrimination guidelines as other organisations.
Co-author, Professor Steven Roberts from the Faculty of Arts at Monash University, said Australian schools play a critical role in driving progress in preventing violence, and intervention from the government is a pivotal and pressing matter.
“In addition to understanding the shape and experience of the problem, the data in our research report today signals the scale and prevalence of the problem nationally. There is now absolutely no doubt that political attention and action is required.”
“Targeted, intentional, gender-transformative reform is necessary to ensure schools are safe places for both students and teachers,” Professor Roberts said.
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