Youth MP’s project calls for a student-led, cultural focus on sexual harassment in schools

Amongst all the positive feedback I received after my election as Peterborough’s Member of Youth Parliament in February 2022, I was struck hardest by the reception of sexual harassment in schools on my manifesto. I was overwhelmed by messages from female and male students from a variety of schools, thanking me for calling out the issue - it seemed I’d been right in my judgement on the scale and breadth of our problem.

I am one of hundreds of students in our city who has regularly experienced sexual harassment perpetrated by my peers in school throughout my education. Things have changed a lot since I began my studies, mainly for the better, however I felt upon being elected that schools had yet to grasp how ingrained misogyny and objectification have become in youth culture.

The sexual harassment we experience in all schools goes beyond isolated incidents that can be swiftly sanctioned- it’s constant, invisible and normalised. Spending every day with your body under a sexualised microscope, drowning in throwaway inappropriate comments, can be viscerally harmful. This isn’t understood by most staff- in fact, when I’d describe it, most looked horrified, as if they’d never have known that this was how we all felt.

So, the question emerged: how can young people in Peterborough make this reality empirically known, to help our schools keep us safe with policies that address this complex cultural problem? To keep this ambition intact, I knew the solution had to be youth-led.

In January, in partnership with Peterborough City Council, I set about recruiting a team of young people with a personal knowledge of the topic and some social research experience from 12 schools in the city.

The youngest was aged 12, the oldest 18: all received full training from myself and a youth worker employed by the council, and Real Living Wage payment by the hour, thanks to funding provided by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Partnership.

Over three months, each ‘peer researcher’ conducted focus groups with students in their schools, using their own expertise to ask questions unlikely to occur to an ‘outsider’, in the presence of a safeguarding-trained member of school staff.

The aim was not to prove that sexual harassment happens, even at scale - we knew that already - but to find out how, when, where and why it impacts students.

In April, this qualitative and anonymous data was collated into a separate written report for each participant school, to be presented to the school’s Senior Leadership Team.

In July, staff and students from each school in the project network came together at Peterborough College, who also took part in the scheme, to triangulate their findings.

Each school individually established a ‘plan-of-action’ with their peer researcher based on their report’s recommendations, and the task ahead remains to ensure these are being followed. I hope both the knowledge of how crucial this issue has proven to the student population in all schools, as well as the testimonies gathered by the team, will motivate school leadership to meet these commitments to the best of their ability unprompted, and that the responsibility displayed by each young researcher has earned them enough respect to be kept informed of progress.

Schools will always have more priorities than capacity - young people understand this when we call for change. Part of this project’s intention was to accelerate a response to the issue by facilitating the legwork for schools- approaching leadership with evidence and recommendations ready to be actioned.

As the academic year begins, several key lessons stand to be learned. Sexual harassment is every school’s problem, and Peterborough students will no longer tolerate denial or erasure.

Young people have once again proven their professional capability, enhanced by the receipt of adequate payment for their efforts. A number of participant schools and colleges have demonstrated excellent practice and respect for their community through their engagement, and others have demonstrated a need to learn from the former. This project’s intention was to support schools and complement their ongoing work, but there’s only so much an external initiative can achieve when given little to liaise with.

What can the public do to support this work? Share the story of this project, advocate for the inclusion of students in response to issues that affect them, and maintain the platform of sexual harassment in any school you interact with.

At the same time, nothing is more useful than feedback from schools themselves. Youth voice in Peterborough is growing, and strong relationships with our schools will soon prove make-or-break for our young people’s futures. If we can do better in our engagement with you, we are committed to improving.

Ufuoma, a peer researcher aged 18 throughout the project, said: “Working as a peer researcher highlighted the importance of co-operation between teachers and students in creating an environment that challenges all forms of sexual harassment. Everyone has their role to play, everyone needs their voices heard.”

Adam, another researcher aged 17, said, “Starting this project, I became educated in the fact that many people, no matter their attributes, experienced sexual harassment.

"Throughout it I definitely had to keep an optimistic mind; perpetrators can change for the better. It was reassuring knowing other people participating in the project were also striving towards reducing this problem, and from that helped me brainstorm solutions.

"All in all, the people with effective ideas to reduce sexual harassment in schools are us - the students.”

Laila Bentley, Assistant Principal leading on Student Experience and Support at Peterborough College, said: “It was such a great opportunity for our students to get involved in as this subject continues to be high on our agenda for the college community.

"Students get the best feedback from each other and that can have so much more impact on tackling change and a co-production approach to shifting culture. It was so inspiring to hear the contributions from the other education providers involved, understand the shared experience and how this landscape affects our young people at each stage of their journey.

"We will continue to build on this work with future ally ship and peer projects, planned as part of our upcoming Student Engagement and Voice Strategy.’

Emma James-German, Student Wellbeing, Safeguarding and Engagement Advisor at Peterborough College said: “It’s been a real privilege to be part of the peer research project and for our students to have had a real impact on how we view sexual harassment and sexual violence in our college community.

"Our peer research students Jay, Emily and Alicia have said how rewarding it has been to be part of such an important project and the fact that they have made a real difference in making positive changes for the students and all staff members at Peterborough College.”