East Lothian young voices speak out and call for change - #WhatWillYouDo

Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre has been delivering sexual violence prevention education to 11–25 year olds in schools and other youth settings in East Lothian for the last three years, as part of Rape Crisis Scotland’s National Prevention Network. We also work with young people on participatory projects to ask their views on issues around sexual violence and what can be done to change it.

The 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence* is an annual campaign that begins on the 25 November. It’s a time when organisations and individuals raise awareness of gender-based violence, and call for accountability and action. This year there has been a growing awareness of the high prevalence of sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools*. The Everyone’s Invited campaign, has encouraged students to speak out anonymously and share online about their own experiences. Therefore, for this year's 16 Days of Activism, we wanted to work with young people on the national theme of this year’s campaign - #WhatWillYouDo. To ask them about what their views, experiences and concerns are, and what changes they would call for.

From our own experience working in schools we have a wealth of anecdotal evidence of the scale of the problem, as young people often speak in workshops about the ‘normalisation’ of certain forms of harassment, and the ‘culture’ of misogyny, bullying, microaggressions, that is present in many schools. Despite this, many young people still feel that there is a lack of acknowledgement of, and action on, many of these issues from their peers, parents, policy makers, and even many of those working in education, including teachers and other school staff. To help facilitate real change for young people – their needs and concerns need to be central. Which is why this 16 Days participatory project is so important.

‘The group definitely felt like a safe space of sorts for me and others in the group as well where we could talk about issues that affected us and that we cared about without judgement.’

Throughout October and November, our East and Midlothian Sexual Violence Prevention Worker, worked with a group of 15 young people (s3 – s6) in East Lothian. The project was led by the participants - giving them the space to discuss and explore the issues that they really cared about and thought were the most relevant.

In the first couple of sessions, the young people spent time sharing their views and experiences – highlighting some of the issues that they had witnessed themselves in school, were concerned about, or thought needed to be addressed. They created posters and banners about a range of issues, including misogyny, homophobia, body shaming and fatphobia – as well as on the key theme of awareness of the prevalence and normalisation of gender-based violence.

The participants recorded audio clips, highlighting – in their own words – their concerns, observations and calls to action. The topics they talk about include: the impact of social media; uniforms discrepancies and slut shaming; locker room culture and peer pressure; covert picture taking; being in educational settings with perpetrators; and transphobic bullying.

Listen to what the young people say here:

One of the main topics the young people explored is rape culture which normalises sexual violence, in that it’s often just accepted as part of everyday life and the seriousness of sexual violence is minimised. We often hear comments like ‘boys will be boys’ as a way of justifying sexual violence and more often than not these behaviours are not challenged enough. The problem with this is that if we exist in spaces where sexual violence is accepted or seen as harmless or funny then we might start to perceive these attitudes in that way as well, or if we experience these behaviours then it can make us feel that we shouldn’t be upset or that we should just ‘laugh it off’.

When we ask the participants about what changes they want to see - a key call is for more accountability and action from their fellow pupils to speak out and challenge abusive behaviours and language. Alongside, prevention education and awareness raising can help foster an environment where harassment, misogyny and bullying are called out and challenged.

‘I hope it can create more awareness in the school and within my year groups in general. I think aside from that, it also helped me and the other group members to feel more confident when it comes to calling out gender-based violence.’

They also want more accountability and action from the educational institutions they attend. For example when they talk about the gendered uniform policies which can contribute to this culture. It is an issue in many schools as it is often policing of mostly young women by staff and having different behavioural expectations or standards based on gender and can contribute to this culture.

Schools and prevention education on issues like consent, gender equality and healthy relationships are key to change. The impact of sexual harassment and sexual violence impacts pupils ability to learn and feel safe in school, harming their wellbeing and education. If schools sit on the sidelines nothing will change, and far too many do, making young people feel unsafe. The only way things will change is if schools take the lead on these issues, acknowledge these uncomfortable conversations and take action to be part of positive change.

We want schools to be safe – equally safe for everyone. This 16 Days we’re asking all schools in Edinburgh, East, Mid and West Lothian to commit to taking action and sign up to Equally Safe at School.

Equally Safe at School has been developed for secondary schools to help them take a whole school approach to preventing gender-based violence, with staff and students working together with a shared understanding and commitment to equality and safety for all.

#WhatWillYouDo

Find out more about our Prevention Project here.

We would like to thank all the young people who took part in this project.

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For support:

Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre's STAR project offers confidential, emotional and practical support to young people, including all members of the trans community and non-binary people, aged 12 to 18 in Edinburgh and the Lothians, who have experienced rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual bullying or circulating an intimate picture without your consent.

Rape Crisis Scotland's helpline 08088 01 03 02 (6pm - midnight every night) offers free and confidential support and information. They offer support to anyone aged 13 and over, of any gender, affected by any form of sexual violence, no matter when or how it happened. They support survivors, as well as family, friends, and supporters. They can arrange for free language interpreters, including British Sign Language, to access support if your first language is not English.

* Stats from 2021 OFSTED report.

Of 900 pupils surveyed:

- 92% of girls, and 74% of boys, said sexist name-calling happens a lot or sometimes to them or their peers.

- nearly 90% of girls, and nearly 50% of boys, said being sent explicit pictures or videos of things they did not want to see happens a lot or sometimes to them or their peers.

- 92% of girls (or someone they know) had experienced sexist name-calling

- 81% of girls (or someone they know) had experienced rumours being spread about their sexual activity

- 64% of girls, and 24% of boys believed unwanted touching happens a lot or sometimes to them or their peers.

- 79% of young people aged 16 to 17 and 86% of those aged 18 and above said that rumours about sexual activity occurred a lot or sometimes between peers.