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| Sexual attacks in schools: action is taking too long, says MP | Sexual attacks in schools: action is taking too long, says MP |
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| Maria Miller attacks delays during Commons debate on sexual violence and harassment in schools and reveals details of girls being raped | |
| Sally Weale Education correspondent | |
| Thu 2 Nov 2017 20.04 GMT | |
| Last modified on Fri 3 Nov 2017 16.47 GMT | |
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| A senior Conservative MP has called on the government to speed up efforts to tackle sexual violence and harassment in schools after revealing that the rape of a six-year-old girl by a male classmate had been dismissed by teachers as “playful activity”. | A senior Conservative MP has called on the government to speed up efforts to tackle sexual violence and harassment in schools after revealing that the rape of a six-year-old girl by a male classmate had been dismissed by teachers as “playful activity”. |
| Maria Miller, who chairs the women and equalities committee, criticised the government for delays in tackling the problem . After a week of revelations about sexual abuse and harassment in Westminster, Miller, who has led efforts to expose the scale of the problem in schools, expressed frustration that little had changed a year after her committee’s report about the widespread scale of the problem in schools. | Maria Miller, who chairs the women and equalities committee, criticised the government for delays in tackling the problem . After a week of revelations about sexual abuse and harassment in Westminster, Miller, who has led efforts to expose the scale of the problem in schools, expressed frustration that little had changed a year after her committee’s report about the widespread scale of the problem in schools. |
| Opening a Commons debate on Thursday, she told MPs it was right that changes were introduced quickly in Westminster, which had a duty to tackle sexual harassment and assault of staff, but added: “Why on earth do we find it so difficult to get the same swift action to protect children in our schools?” | Opening a Commons debate on Thursday, she told MPs it was right that changes were introduced quickly in Westminster, which had a duty to tackle sexual harassment and assault of staff, but added: “Why on earth do we find it so difficult to get the same swift action to protect children in our schools?” |
| She said she had been approached by two parents this week with harrowing details of their children’s experiences. “Mrs X told me about the rape of her six-year-old daughter at school by a male classmate, that was simply dismissed by teachers as ‘playful activity’,” she said. “There was no central record of the incident because of the age of the children under the age of criminal responsibility – and certainly no support for the victim as a result.” | She said she had been approached by two parents this week with harrowing details of their children’s experiences. “Mrs X told me about the rape of her six-year-old daughter at school by a male classmate, that was simply dismissed by teachers as ‘playful activity’,” she said. “There was no central record of the incident because of the age of the children under the age of criminal responsibility – and certainly no support for the victim as a result.” |
| A child, no matter how young, should be protected in the same way you might protect an adult who had been through the same experience, Miller told MPs. | A child, no matter how young, should be protected in the same way you might protect an adult who had been through the same experience, Miller told MPs. |
| Another parent whose daughter had been raped at school complained about the damaging effects of hard pornography and told her that girls as young as 12 were encouraging each other to “sext” - send sexually explicit photographs of themselves via smartphones - to their peer group and to have anal sex. | Another parent whose daughter had been raped at school complained about the damaging effects of hard pornography and told her that girls as young as 12 were encouraging each other to “sext” - send sexually explicit photographs of themselves via smartphones - to their peer group and to have anal sex. |
| “His observation as a father, ‘They have no idea they are experiencing sexual abuse if their first frame of reference is viewing extreme pornography – then spanking and being given a dog collar to wear round their neck is not out of the norm’,” said Miller. | “His observation as a father, ‘They have no idea they are experiencing sexual abuse if their first frame of reference is viewing extreme pornography – then spanking and being given a dog collar to wear round their neck is not out of the norm’,” said Miller. |
| Quoting recent figures obtained from 38 police forces by the BBC’s Panorama programme, Miller said there had been a 71% increase in peer-on-peer abuse in schools in the past three years, with more than 7,800 reported cases in 2016, but schools remained ill-equipped to tackle the problem. | Quoting recent figures obtained from 38 police forces by the BBC’s Panorama programme, Miller said there had been a 71% increase in peer-on-peer abuse in schools in the past three years, with more than 7,800 reported cases in 2016, but schools remained ill-equipped to tackle the problem. |
| Following the publication of her committee’s original report, the governmnet agreed to make sex and relationships education compulsory in school but the details are still under consultation and MPs are worried about the length of time it will take to roll out across schools. | Following the publication of her committee’s original report, the governmnet agreed to make sex and relationships education compulsory in school but the details are still under consultation and MPs are worried about the length of time it will take to roll out across schools. |
| MPs are also concerned about how long it is taking to amend statutory guidance to schools on how to handle allegations of sexual assault and harassment. Updates will not now come into force until September 2018, two years after the committee first reported. | MPs are also concerned about how long it is taking to amend statutory guidance to schools on how to handle allegations of sexual assault and harassment. Updates will not now come into force until September 2018, two years after the committee first reported. |
| Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, warned fellow MPs that they could find themselves in the invidious position of having more protection in these matters than young people in schools. “Our schools are crying out for help to get this right ... There is no reason to delay, not even for a few weeks, not a day.” | Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, warned fellow MPs that they could find themselves in the invidious position of having more protection in these matters than young people in schools. “Our schools are crying out for help to get this right ... There is no reason to delay, not even for a few weeks, not a day.” |
| The schools minister, Nick Gibb, last month gave an undertaking that the government would introduce rules to stop boys who sexually abused other children at school from being allowed back in the same classroom. | The schools minister, Nick Gibb, last month gave an undertaking that the government would introduce rules to stop boys who sexually abused other children at school from being allowed back in the same classroom. |
| He told the women and equalities committee that the government would shortly launch a consultation to make the required changes. | He told the women and equalities committee that the government would shortly launch a consultation to make the required changes. |
| Sex education | |
| Sexual harassment | |
| Maria Miller | |
| Schools | |
| Stella Creasy | |
| Education policy | |
| news | |
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