Ei-iE

Amid reports of growing misogyny, harassment, and gender-based violence against women teachers, Education International (EI) calls for coordinated action to ensure schools are safe spaces for female teachers and students in all their diversity.

Surge in misogyny against women teachers

While teachers have reported significant levels of violence in schools, women teachers are particularly vulnerable. A recent survey conducted by EI member organisation NASUWT in Scotland reveals that female teachers experience both physical and verbal abuse more frequently than their male colleagues.

Of the 5,800 teachers who responded to the Behaviour in Schools Survey,

• nearly half (49%) of female teachers had experienced physical abuse or violence from pupils in the previous 12 months, compared to 36% of male respondents.
• 27% of female teachers reported being hit or punched, compared to 13% of male teachers;
• 20% of female teachers reported being kicked, compared to 8% of male teachers.
• 37% of female teachers said they had been shoved or barged by a pupil, compared to 33% of male teachers.
• 12% of female teachers said they had been spat at, compared to 4% of male teachers.
• 18% of female teachers said they experienced physical violence several times a week in the last year, compared to 6% of male teachers.
• 37% of female teachers reported being verbally abused several times a week on average, compared to 18% of male teachers.

A study conducted by the Colegio de Profesoras y Profesores, EI member organisation in Chile, also found women teachers to be more vulnerable to all forms of violence compared to their male colleagues. From insults and threats to physical and sexual violence, female teachers reported higher rates of incidence.

Misogynistic and sexist attitudes and ideologies undoubtedly account for some of the disparity between rates of violence and abuse being faced by male and female teachers.

According to the BBC, a majority of teachers who have been teaching for at least five years (61%) said they had seen increases in misogynistic behaviour among pupils since they started teaching. A third of the 6,000 teachers surveyed by the BBC reported misogyny among students in the previous week.

Teachers are warning of the toxic impact of online influencers on boys. One female teacher who took part in the NASUWT survey explained: “Out of an English class of 28 S2 pupils last year, four boys opted, despite discouragement, to write a persuasive essay on why Andrew Tate is the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) which included praise of his view that women are a man’s property. This low view of woman and rhetoric plays out in how little regard and respect many of my female colleagues are encountering.”

Teachers in Canada and Australia have raised similar concerns. In Australia, while sexism and sexual harassment are not new in schools, teachers reported that the frequency and tone of these behaviours has intensified since the return from lockdowns. Furthermore, research conducted in Australia shows that teachers who report such behaviours often feel unsupported and unprotected by school leadership. In some cases, it was deemed a consequence of women’s inability to manage student behaviour.

Standing together for gender justice in education and beyond

In a statement marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the start of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, Ann Mari Milo Lorentzen, EI Executive Board Member and Chair of EI’s Status of Women Committee, launched a call to action: “We demand system change. Gender-based violence and harassment are fuelled by a misogynistic patriarchal system that touches the lives of all women and girls. Join us and take a stand for gender justice.”

Education International remains committed to ensuring schools are safe spaces for critical thinking, diversity, equality, and respect. School-related gender-based violence – a grave violation of students’ right to education and teachers’ right to decent working conditions - must be eradicated.

EI will also continue to advocate for Convention 190 of the International Labour Organization to be ratified and fully implemented by all countries, for a world of work free from violence and harassment.