Sexual Assault, Bullying, and Harassment on the Basis of Sex in U.S. Schools

A new report from the U.S. Department of Education presents data on sexual assault in the nation’s schools during the 2020-21 academic year. Remember that during this period many students were studying virtually so in-school attendance and sexual assaults were presumably far lower than in previous years or in more recent years.

In the 2020-21 academic year, there were 2,700 instances of sexual assault in schools including 350 incidents of rape or attempted rape. There were 14,900 students who reported being harassed or bullied on the basis of sex and 20,800 students were disciplined for bullying or harassment on the basis of sex.

Of the students reported as being harassed or bullied on the basis of sex, 63 percent were girls, and 37 percent were boys. Boys were more often disciplined for harassment or bullying on the basis of sex. Of the students disciplined, 78 percent were boys, and 22 percent were girls.

White boys represented 24 percent of total K-12 student enrollment but accounted for 48 percent of students disciplined for harassment or bullying on the basis of sex. White girls represented 22 percent of total K-12 student enrollment but accounted for 45 percent of students reported as being harassed or bullied on the basis of sex.