The testimony of thousands of girls must serve as a wake-up call for specific schools and society as a whole
The strong public reaction to the outpouring of testimony of sexual harassment and abuse in schools on the Everyone’s Invited website is, in one sense, encouraging. Girls whose experiences, including rape, have previously been ignored (and a smaller number of boys) have found a way of being heard. While the endemic nature of violence against women and girls is too often treated as a sad fact of life, recent events including the killing of Sarah Everard and the rise in reports of domestic abuse have contributed to a mood of growing determination and anger.
Although the sense that these schoolgirls are part of a wider movement could be a source of strength, it also brings complications. Already, Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the Independent Schools Council, has suggested that any inquiry into the allegations should “look across the whole spectrum of institutions”. Maria Miller, the MP and former chair of the women and equalities committee, has warned that a proposed police helpline could result in a “reporting frenzy”, without changing the situation in schools.
