AAUW Challenges Government Figures on Sexual Harassment in Large City Schools

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) conducted an analysis of new data from the U.S. Department of Education on harassment and bullying in schools. The AAUW reports that 14 of the 20 largest school districts in the United States did not report to the government any instances of sexual harassment, disciplinary actions resulting from bullying on the basis of gender, or students who reported being bullied or harassed because of their gender.

“The numbers fly in the face of reputable research and common sense,” according to the AAUW report.

An AAUW report, Crossing the Line: Sexual Harassment at School, found that nearly half of all students in grades 7-12 reported that they had been harassed at school in the 2010-11 school year. One third of all girls in these grades said they had witnessed sexual harassment in school.

“These reports of no sexual harassment and bullying happening in a school district are impossible to believe,” said AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman. “It just does not sync with what we know to be the unfortunate reality for many school children in this nation. High-profile incidents in the press of students being bullied to death and independent research conducted by AAUW shows that it is highly unlikely that any school district would be free of sexual harassment and bullying.”