The Nature, Prevalence And Perceived Effects Of Sexual Harassment On Girls In Thabo Mofutsanyana District Secondary Schools In The Free State

Abstract

The study investigated the nature, prevalence and perceived effects of sexual harassment on girls in Thabo Mofutsanyana District secondary schools in the Free State. Secondary school girl leaners are faced with the scourge of sexual harassment in school premises. The focus was to highlight the existence, nature, perpetrators of such acts and the effects that are perceived to exist on affected girl learners in all the five local municipalities in the district. The study is informed by the feminism theory because it deals with gender discrimination. Several gender theories, such as the gender schema theory, social learning theory, social role theory, psychoanalysis theory and cognitive development theory, were explored. The exploration considered gender theories’ impact on how adolescents learn gender roles and stereotypes, and ultimately acting them out in society. The study adopted the mixed methods to gather data. The Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ) which is a standardised questionnaire was adopted, customised and administered to a sample of 200 girl learners from 26 Thabo Mofutsanyana District secondary schools and interviews were conducted with 5 Thabo Mofutsanyana District officials representing 5 units. The Sexual Experiences Questionnaire revealed the nature and prevalence of sexual harassment while the interviews provided the study with the perceived effects of sexual harassment on girls as opposed to their general wellbeing and their health together with the role that should be played by principals and school governing bodies in curbing sexual harassment in schools. The results confirmed that girl learners are being sexually harassed in secondary schools of Thabo Mofutsanyana District. The study revealed that 96, 2% of the 165 girl participants have been sexually harassed either verbally or in a non – verbal form. These acts are perpetrated by fellow boy learners, educators, principals and parents. The study further revealed that the wellbeing of the victims is negatively affected by these incidents. Principals and SGBs are found wanting in terms of their roles with regards to dealing decisively with sexual harassment in secondary schools. A Sexual Harassment Reporting Model (SHRM) was developed by the researcher and is recommended for use by the Department of Education when dealing with sexual harassment cases. Further studies focussing on the boy learners and the perpetration of sexual harassment at secondary schools of Thabo Mofutsanyana District is recommended.