Sexual violence is pushing girls out of school

In recent weeks, school absenteeism has been dominating the headlines. For Sexual Abuse & Sexual Violence Awareness Week, Nina, Agenda Alliance’s Communications and Campaigns Co-Ordinator, explains why improving girls’ attendance at school requires tackling the sexual violence they face.

Why is absenteeism an issue?

Significant absence from school – where children miss 50% or more school days in a year – has tripled since 2010.

This context has made school absenteeism a hot political topic, with Labour pushing proposals for a new register for children missing from school, and the government announcing funding for ‘attendance mentors’ in the worst-affected areas.

Education professionals and third-sector organisations have been quick to highlight that this isn't simply young people 'bunking'. Huge numbers of children are struggling with their mental health, and without major investment in children’s mental health services, these problems will persist.

Much of the coverage of this topic cites poverty, the cost-of-living crisis, and the ongoing impact of the pandemic on young people’s mental health. These are undoubtedly significant factors, but our work at Agenda Alliance shows mental health impacts vary according to gender, and that girls – in many cases – are citing sexual violence.

What does sexual violence have to do with avoiding school?

Katy*, who we spoke to for our Girls Speak project in 2021, faced sexual harassment at school, leading her to self-exclude: “When I was 13, I started to stop going as much as I could get away with... There was a boy who would like… I would say it was sexual assault because he used to deliberately grab, grope other girls, and me… He used to sort of target me and try and touch me, and it would make me not want to go […] There was a female teacher who basically insinuated that it was my fault when she seen it happen. [She] blamed me for it happening, and I walked out…”

The scale of this issue has become plain to see. In 2020, Soma Sara established Everyone’s Invited, which quickly gathered thousands of testimonies from girls and young women regarding their experiences of rape culture at school. A 2021 Ofsted report then concluded that sexual abuse and harassment had become ‘normalised’, with 9 out 10 girls having received unsolicited sexual images and been subject to sexist name calling at school.

This issue is not just ‘coming to light’ but intensifying, so it’s reasonable to conclude related absenteeism may increase too. Smartphones have presented a new challenge for schools and are now widely used by younger and younger children. These are not only tools for sexual violence themselves – such as upskirting, non-consensual image sharing, and grooming – but are enabling widespread access to misogynistic influencers such as Andrew Tate. The result is a devastating cultural shift. A recent viral poll shows 1 in 5 Gen Z males look favourably upon Tate, who espouses hitting and choking women, and is currently facing multiple sexual offence charges.

Girls thus face an incredibly hostile environment at school, and research shows sexual harassment and violence ‘can lead to lower school engagement, anxiety, alienation from teachers and poor academic achievement’. It’s easy to see why some girls don’t want to attend – and that without evidence of meaningful action, they feel safer staying away.

How government and schools need to respond

Culture change

Girls face a deep-rooted culture in which routes to accountability and justice are often obstructed, and blame, judgment, and dismissal is widespread. 18-year-old Millie* told a teacher about repeated harassment of a sexual nature by a male student: "I opened up…. that I was sexually harassed and continuing to be harassed on school property. All they did was laugh. Then, [the teacher] went….'Why do you even care? Why are you even letting it bother you?' [When a police officer came into school to take a statement] I just laid it all out. I was sobbing and sobbing and sobbing. Then, he said, 'Well, to be honest with you, you just need to stop bitching and lying.'"

We urgently need to improve understanding amongst school staff on how to respond to sexual violence, and increase delivery of high-quality relationship and sex education. Last year, End Violence Against Women released It’s About Time, a major report setting out the need for a Whole School Approach for tackling sexual violence: crucially, it emphasises the need for partnership with specialist Violence Against Women & Girls organisations.

Provide trauma-informed support

Daily sexual violence for girls is traumatic, and how they may express themselves about their distress is often seen as a disciplinary, rather than wellbeing, issue.

After a sexual image was shared of Marie without her consent, she was excluded on the basis of her consequent behaviour: “That was just like the start of the hell... From there, I got excluded a few times, just for little things, like setting off the alarm and bunking and stuff like that.”

Responses to absenteeism should be rooted in professional curiosity from staff as to the reasons for girl’s absence, rather than simply resorting to punishment. Well-meaning and trained staff who care about the experiences of girls need to be backed up, with resources and services available to provide effective response. Girls face a post-code lottery in terms of age-appropriate support: our freedom of information requests have shown that 60% of local authorities have no gender-specific provision in place for girls and young women, with this figure rising to 90% when asking about culturally-responsive services for Black, Asian and minoritised girls (who are disproportionately impacted by school disciplinary measures).

Prevent a cycle of harm

Punitive responses to absenteeism risk of intensifying, not solving, these issues – the DfE’s own analysis shows that a child is in fact more likely to struggle to return to school after a suspension.

Permanent and temporary school exclusion – as well as ‘truancy’ – is also associated with heightened risks, especially for child sexual exploitation or gang involvement – Amelia shared with us: “I would never be at school. One time, I bumped into a couple of [grown men]. I started spending time with them... To be honest, I had nowhere else to go... They wanted me to do stuff for them.”

Any absenteeism measures must take into account the increased risks being out of school presents for girls. Responses to high rates of absenteeism must avoid punishment (of both children and parents) and instead work to address the root causes of girls’ absence from school. They should be co-produced with young women and the specialist organisations that support them.

All girls deserve to live free from sexual violence and feel safe at school.

We are following the government response to the absenteeism crisis closely, extend our solidarity to all those campaigning on this issue, and will continue to call for the voices and needs of girls and young women to be listened to and heard.

If you have anything you'd like to share on this issue, get in touch at policy@agendaalliance.org.