Ofsted launches review into sex abuse in schools after Everyone’s Invited website is flooded with more than 10,000 complaints of harassment, misogyny and assault
- Ofsted launch review of safeguarding policies in state and independent schools
- Will also look into complaints process and sex and relationships support
- Comes after more than 10,000 reports of sexual assault on Everyone’s Invited
- Accusations have so far named top public schools including Eton College
Ofsted has announced plans for a review into safeguarding policies and practices at state and independent schools following concerns about widespread sexual abuse.
The review – which should be completed by the end of May – will establish what current safeguarding guidance is place in schools and colleges and whether it is sufficient to allow them to ‘respond effectively’ to allegations.
It will also examine whether institutions need extra support in teaching students about sex and relationships, and whether current inspection regimes are ‘robust enough’ around the issue of sexual abuse.
The Department for Education had last week ordered the watchdog to launch the probe to understand ‘the extent and the severity of the issue’.
It comes after more than 10,000 reports were posted on the Everyone’s Invited website, where students can anonymously share their experiences of misogyny, harassment, abuse and assault.
Ofsted has announced plans for a review into safeguarding policies and practices at state and independent schools following concerns about widespread sexual abuse. Pictured: James Allen’s Girls School in Dulwich which has been hit by the scandal
Pupils staged a protest against rape culture at Highgate School in London on March 25. The school, has been named in allegations among others including Eton and Dulwich College
The website has been central to allegations that a ‘rape culture’ exists in some of Britain’s leading private schools.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has condemned the alleged assaults as ‘shocking’ and suggested any schools implicated could face government measures.
Chief inspector Amanda Spielman said: ‘Like so many others, I have been deeply troubled by the allegations of sexual abuse posted on the ‘Everyone’s Invited’ website.
‘Many of the testimonies reveal that girls have not felt able to report incidents of sexual abuse to their schools.
More than 11,000 testimonies have now been uploaded to the Everyone’s Invited website
‘We hope that by listening to young people’s experiences first-hand, this review will provide much needed insight into what these barriers are and how they can be overcome.’
Accusations of sexual assault have so far named top public schools including Eton College, Hampton and Charterhouse, with both girls and boys among the alleged victims.
Last week, shocked head teachers of girls’ private schools said they were talking to current and former students over sex allegations at neighbouring schools.
The Girls’ Schools Association (GSA), which represents more than 100 top British girls’ private schools, said that in some cases they are referring incidents to the police.
GSA schools include James Allen’s Girls’ School (JAGS) – attended by some of the girls making accusations about Dulwich College boys.
Last Monday, GSA chief executive Donna Stevens released a statement saying the ‘deeply troubling’ allegations ‘must not be ignored’.
She said: ‘Our schools are taking this issue seriously and talking with current and former students as well as parents to bring about positive change.’
A sign reading ‘Educate Your Sons’ is attached to a gate outside James Allen’s School. The school was protesting rape culture at nearby Dulwich College Boys School
The Department for Education had last week ordered the watchdog to launch the probe to understand ‘the extent and the severity of the issue’. Pictured: Education Secretary Gavin Williamson
Her words came as a former pupil at JAGS revealed herself to be the co-author of a letter making allegations against Dulwich College pupils.
But some schools have been accused of trivialising sexual violence by boys, with official figures showing the number of pupils suspended for it has almost halved in a decade.
There were 1,866 suspensions for sexual misconduct last year – a 44 per cent decrease on the 3,350 of ten years ago. Exclusions also fell.
Jane Lunnon, the new head of the £20,000-a-year Alleyn’s School in Dulwich, south-east London, suggested the solution should see young men become ‘part of the conversation’.
‘A gender war helps no one, and pitting girls against boys or ‘othering’ the opposite gender is no solution,’ she told The Times.
‘Our young people must learn how to tackle these things head on; how to listen to each other generously and with respect, and how to ex-press their concerns and their hopes openly together.’
An investigation by the Mail also found that boys at some private schools embroiled in the sex abuse scandal were having to change out of uniform to avoid street attacks and verbal abuse.
A woman and child walk past placards saying ‘it’s sexual harassment’, ‘she is someone’ and ‘educate your sons’ attached to the fence outside James Allen’s Girls’ School last week
Ofsted (file image) will look at safeguarding policies in state and independent schools and will ensure there are appropriate systems in place to allow pupils to report their concerns
Some of the male pupils also fear including their school name on CVs in case they are turned away by potential employers because of the negative associations.
Others – aged as young as 13 – have faced abuse from members of the public and have been branded rapists in the street, prompting some to change out of uniform for journeys to and from school.
One boy at a London independent school told The Mail on Sunday: ‘A lot of us are worried our association with the school is going to damage our job prospects. People will just look at us and see a rapist.’
A 46-year-old mother of boys aged 12 and 17 told The Daily Telegraph: ‘This is scaring me. What if it’s a case of two different perspectives of an event? What if the accusations are false, or exaggerated? How does a young man get his reputation back?
‘I know of boys being ‘cancelled’ by friends they’ve had since primary school because nobody wants to associate with them in the wake of allegations. They are being branded as rapists without any opportunity to share their perspective – it’s frankly terrifying.’
‘It’s really worrying,’ another mother added. ‘Very little is said about false allegations and protecting the alleged perpetrator.’
A teenager who on arrival at sixth-form college allegedly had girls screaming at him after a story had circulated has not returned since. None of his friends have been in contact with him, fearing they will be ‘cancelled’ if they break ranks.
Union bosses say female STAFF are also victims of schools sex abuse scandal
Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of NASUWT
Female teachers worry about walking corridors alone, union leaders warned as the schools sex scandal widened last night.
The NASUWT, which has 314,000 members in both private and state schools, said many women staff have reported sex assaults and harassment by male pupils.
Female teachers have also been victims of unwanted advances and behaviour, including ‘upskirting’ and ‘down-blousing’ – where pupils secretly film under their clothes and circulate footage online.
Last week, Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of NASUWT, said female teachers are suffering from the same ‘sexist and misogynist behaviour’ as girls have complained of and even have to constantly ‘think about how they are dressed’ to ward off attacks.
One teacher told the union her face was superimposed onto porn and then shared online widely.
Others have been inappropriately touched or been the subject of sexist name-calling and ‘derogatory language’ in class as well as online, Dr Roach said.
He told the union’s annual conference yesterday: ‘Misogyny and sexism are all too real, all too apparent – whether it’s on the streets… or in our schools.
‘And [the question is] whether female teachers and female students can feel that they are safe to walk along the corridors without having to think about how they’re dressed or whether they’re walking alone and how they’re going to be treated by pupils.
‘No teacher should feel that, no student should feel that. And yet we do hear that teachers and students do.’
He said the problem was related to the Everyone’s Invited testimonies, with the abuse that female pupils suffer ‘impacting’ on teachers, and ‘vice versa’.
He said: ‘We are seeing… so-called banter, sexist name-calling, the use of derogatory terms – both in class and online – to talk about teachers, the posting of sexist comments on social media, the belittling of teachers because of their sex.’
He said the most ‘extreme’ behaviour included ‘cases of upskirting, down-blousing, inappropriate touching’, and it probably represented ‘the tip of the iceberg’.
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