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Third Of Girls Harassed When Wearing School Uniform, Survey Suggests

Third Of Girls Harassed When Wearing School Uniform, Survey Suggests

The study found that children as young as eight described experiencing or witnessing harassment.

Rachel Andrews

Rachel Andrews

A new report has suggested that one in three girls have been harassed in public while wearing their school uniform.

The research, carried out by children's charity Plan International UK, added that 66 per cent of girls said that they have experienced unwanted sexual attention, sexual contact or physical contact in public.

Many girls feel street harassment is just 'part of growing up', according to the survey of 1,000 teenagers and young women all aged 14 to 21.

The report spoke to girls as well as academics to draw their findings.

A shocking 35 per cent of of girls reported receiving unwanted sexual contact, such as being groped or grabbed.

And over a third of girls received unwanted sexual attention such as catcalling and wolf-whistling in their school uniforms.

Girls as young as eight described experiencing or witnessing harassment, and 25 per cent of girls said they had been filmed or photographed by a stranger without their permission.

School girls have shared their own experiences of harassment as part of the report.

Jess, 16, from Glasgow, said: "When I was 15, I was in school uniform and sat on a train and this guy kept trying to put his hand on my leg.

PA Images

"I was like, 'What am I supposed to do?' I ended up getting off the train at the next stop and just being completely lost."

The teen continued: "It was such a horrible experience. I was going to see my biology tutor and I arrived at the library in tears, I was really upset about it.

"I think the worst part was feeling guilty because I was wearing a skirt, which is stupid because it shouldn't matter what I was wearing, but in the moment it did."

Others recounted being followed by strangers while walking on their own.

Tanya Barron, chief executive at Plan International UK, said: "It is shocking and deeply concerning that girls, many of whom are clearly of school age because they are in uniform, are being targeted and sexually harassed by perpetrators in the street.

"It's simply not acceptable that girls as young as 12 are being wolf-whistled at in public, touched against their will, stared at or even followed. This disgraceful behaviour needs to be called out and stopped."

Plan International is now calling on bystanders to call out harassment when they see it first hand, and is challenging the government to recognise harassment in public as a form of gender-based violence to end violence against women and girls.

Featured Image Credit: PA Images

Topics: Life News, Real