Since March 2020, thousands of young women have been sharing their experiences of sexual harassment through the ‘Everyone’s Invited’ project. This is an online platform where girls ‑ who are still mostly in school – have described growing up in a world where harassment, including sexualised comments, slut‑shaming and the sharing of nude pictures, is part of their everyday lives. This harmful behaviour happens online and offline.

Of course, boys can experience sexualised bullying too, and when they do it’s often in the form of homophobic abuse, or through pressure to be more ‘masculine’.

Dame Rachel de Souza DBE, the Children’s Commissioner for England, undertook the largest ever survey of children – The Big Ask – to understand children’s lives. Amongst other things, the report uncovered that children want to talk to their parents and carers about sexual harassment.

Consequently, a Parental Guide has been written outlining what young people wanted their parents to know. You can access the guide here.

Matt Allman, Headteacher, said: “The overriding message of the report is to talk early, talk often. It could be online safety, sharing photos, or coming into contact with other social problems, but too often the first time a parent hears about it is when something has already happened. It is vital to try and establish a regular dialogue with children and it is up to parent to take the lead on this in the family home.”