London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Leering, jeering and ‘dick pics’: UK report finds sexual harassment ‘normalised’ in schools

Leering, jeering and ‘dick pics’: UK report finds sexual harassment ‘normalised’ in schools

A government report has found that nine out of 10 schoolgirls in the UK know someone who’s been subjected to sexist abuse. The report blames a “normalised” culture of sexual harassment, but technology also plays a role.

The report, released by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) on Thursday, found that sexual harassment, including online sexual abuse, has become “normalised” for children and teenagers in the UK’s schools.

Ofsted inspectors visited 32 schools and spoke to 900 students in April, and found that nine out of 10 girls said sexist name-calling and being sent unwanted explicit pictures or videos happened “a lot” or “sometimes.” An equal number of girls and half the boys surveyed said that explicit pictures – “dick pics” – were sent to them or their classmates regularly.


Three-quarters of girls said that they were pressured to send naked images of themselves, with one telling inspectors that boys “just won’t take no for an answer.” Nearly six in 10 said they or their female classmates had been photographed without their consent, and over half said these photographs were then circulated without their knowledge. Boys also said they were on the receiving end of such behaviour, but to a lesser extent than girls.

Students subjected to this harassment often don’t report it to teachers and staff, the report found, citing concerns about police involvement, reputational damage or worries that their complaint would go nowhere. This behaviour is apparently so commonplace that inspectors advised school staff to “act on the assumption” that it’s happening in their schools, even if students aren’t speaking up.

“This is a cultural issue; it’s about attitudes and behaviours becoming normalised, and schools and colleges can’t solve that by themselves,” Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman said. She recommended that the government do more to tackle online bullying and abuse, and advised schools to “maintain the right culture in their corridors.”

Some of the behaviour highlighted in the report is age-old: leering, jeering, unwanted touching and “pressure to do sexual things.” The majority of girls said that these issues occurred “a lot” or “sometimes” in their schools. Even two decades ago, Ofsted noted that bullying in schools often had a sexual component, and girls were frequently subjected to “innuendo or outright abuse” in the classroom. Surveys taken more than a decade ago found that sexual harassment in schools was “routing and unquestioned.”

What has changed since the early 2000s is the prevalence of smartphones and messaging apps. The latest Ofsted report specifically highlighted WhatsApp and Snapchat as the platforms most commonly used for sharing explicit material. Studies from around the world have linked smartphones with bullying, and Snapchat in particular has been highlighted as a problem app by the British government.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×