The #MeToo and ‘Everyone’s Invited’ movements as well as the shocking murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa (amongst many others) have shone a light on the issues of sexism towards women, misogyny and sexual harassment which are sadly still engrained in our society. Recent educational research shows that these issues are prevalent in schools nationally. We know that men can also face sexism and misandry, including lack of support for men who experience domestic violence or men’s mental health not being valued.
Sixteen Sixth Form students representing all genders attended the ‘Beyond This: Anti-Sexism, Misogyny and Harassment’ Conference this year with staff. We learned about issues which affect women, such as period stigma and poverty, female genital mutilation, and the effects of pornography on relationships. Hearing from nationally renowned speakers such as Grace Savage, Felicity Aston, Peter Radford and Gemma Aitchison, we were inspired to take action.
Setting up the group this year, student leaders and staff are aiming to:
- explore what the issues are at Waddesdon from the student perspective and present these to the School Leadership Team, with suggested actions to start tackling the challenges
- start developing student led education through whole school assemblies and CP lessons, with focus on consent, what harassment looks like, and what to do as a bystander if you see or hear something which is unacceptable
- look into outside organisations who could come into school to train students and staff to improve our collective understanding about sexism as a community and what we can do to challenge it.
