Boys perpetrating sexual harassment on peer girls in secondary school: A focus group study about pupils' experiences.

Publisher: Sage Publications Country of Publication: Sweden NLM ID: 100883503 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1651-1905 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 14034948 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Scand J Public Health Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: <2008->: London, England : Sage Publications
Original Publication: Stockholm ; Boston : Scandinavian University Press, c1999-

Sexual Harassment*/psychology ; Sexual Harassment*/statistics & numerical data ; Focus Groups* ; Peer Group* ; Schools* ; Students*/psychology ; Students*/statistics & numerical data; Humans ; Adolescent ; Female ; Male ; Norway ; Adolescent Behavior/psychology

Aims: To explore experiences of sexual harassment of adolescent girls by peer boys during school hours.
Methods: Focus group study with a convenience sample of six girls and 12 boys aged 13-15 years from two different lower secondary schools in Norway. Thematic analysis with Systematic Text Condensation was used with data from three focus group discussions, supported by theory about gender performativity.
Results: Analysis demonstrated how girls experienced specific aspects of unwanted sexual attention perpetrated by male peers. When boys trivialized sexualized behaviour perceived as intimidating by girls, the behaviour was perceived as 'normal'. Among the boys, sexual name-calling was only meant as a joke to put the girls in their place, while girls were silenced. In this way, patterns of gendered interaction contribute to performing and maintaining sexual harassment. Responses from co-pupils and teachers had strong impact on further harassment, contributing to either escalation or resistance. Signalling disapproval when being harassed was difficult when bystander behaviour was lacking or degrading. The participants wanted teachers to intervene in response to sexual harassment, emphasizing that being present or showing concern is not enough to stop the harassment. The lack of proactive responses from bystanders may also represent gender performativity, where invisibility contributes to social conventions such as normalization.
Conclusions: Our analysis indicates a need for interventions targeting sexual harassment among pupils in Norwegian schools, with a special awareness of gendered performance. Both teachers and pupils would benefit from increased knowledge and skills in how to detect and stop unwanted sexual attention.
Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Keywords: Sexual harassment; adolescents; gender; pupils; school; teachers; victimization

Date Created: 20230508 Date Completed: 20240801 Latest Revision: 20240801

20240801

10.1177/14034948231172250

37154062