Following on from this thread about "small" sexual assualts. I realised to my horror that most women I know have experienced sexual bullying. I have a 9month old daughter. I don't want her to experience the things I have but I also am very worried that things are actually getting worse in our increasingly sexualised culture. And it's not just girls who are the victims of sexual bullying it's boys too. And both can be the perpetrators.
I work in education and currently am writing a resource for schools around sexual bullying compiling all the fab resources from NSPCC, Womankind, Brook etc.
But am thinking maybe we need a support pack for parents around this too- sort of a toolkit of ideas for how to address this with our kids to try and protect them as much as possible from this (from both being victims and perpetrators).
Am just musing really but wondered if more experienced parents of older children might want to share ideas on how they try to protect their kids from sexual bullying.
I'll start (although not a parent of an older kid I work with teenagers!): I really like to share the NSPCC/Womankind definition of Sexual Bullying here and discuss with the kids:
The NSPCC working definition of Sexual Bullying
(adapted from the definition provided by WOMANKIND Worldwide)
NSPCC Registered charity numbers 216401 and SC037717
Any bullying behaviour, whether physical or non-physical, that is based on a person?s
sexuality or gender. It is when sexuality or gender is used as a weapon by boys or girls
towards other boys or girls ? although it is more commonly directed at girls. It can be
carried out to a person?s face, behind their back or through the use of technology.
For example:
? Teasing or putting someone down because of:
- their sex life (e.g. because they haven?t had sex or if they?ve had sex
with a number of people)
- their sexuality (e.g. making fun of someone for being homosexual)
- their body (e.g. the size of their breasts, bottom or muscles)
? Using words that refer to someone?s sexuality in a derogatory way
(like calling something ?gay? to mean that it is not very good)
? Using sexual words to put someone down
(like calling someone ?slut? or ?bitch?)
? Making threats or jokes about serious and frightening subjects like rape
? Spreading rumours about someone?s sexuality and sex life ? including graffiti, texts
and msn
? Touching parts of someone?s body that they don?t want to be touched
? Putting pressure on someone to act in a sexual way