Sexual Assault Part of School Life!!!!

Its about time we stop accepting any form of assault and abuse as 'normal' (This was sent to me by one of the youthnetwork blog readers)

Sexual assault 'part of school life'

A new report has found sexual assault between school students is being ignored because it is seen as part of normal high school life. The Australian Institute of Family Studies report says school children are often reluctant to report sexual assault from other students because the fear the social consequences and do not think they will be believed.
It says most children find it hard to define when they have been sexually assaulted by another student.

The institute's general manager of research, Dr Daryl Higgins, says teachers are also dismissing sexual assault between high school students too easily.

"I think for teachers it's really difficult to be able to recognise that there's a serious problem on their hands when children at their school are being subjected to, let's say, an assault from a peer at a school," he said.
"It's much easier to turn a blind eye."

The report recommends schools do more to support young people who report assault, like creating safe areas, offering more training for teachers and separating victims and perpetrators. It says while only about 15 per cent of sexual assaults are reported to police, around two-thirds of victims tell someone in their informal support network.
The report says older teenagers aged between 14 and 17 are more likely to tell someone.
It also says situations involving technology like mobile phones, digital cameras and the Internet are difficult to define as assault under the law.

In 2006, the Australian Bureau of Statistics found 14 per cent of females and 3 per cent of males aged 12 to 20 had been sexually assaulted, most of them by people they knew.