London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Aug 18, 2026

Pornography causing backward step in boys' respect for girls, say victims and teachers

Pornography causing backward step in boys' respect for girls, say victims and teachers

Messaging apps like Snapchat see girls sent abusive messages by boys of their age, and they feel unable to report them.

A woman who was sexually abused and raped as a child has waived her right to anonymity to speak out against the harmful affects of easily-accessible pornography.

Dandy Doherty says she was sexually abused at the age of 11 and raped at the age of 15 - and that her abusers were the same age as her.

She is one of many to contribute to the website Everyone's Invited, but she's waived her anonymity because she feels inaction by schools and parents has "trickled down" to create an abuse culture.

Everyone's Invited - testimonies uploaded to the site have prompted multiple police reports of abuse


More than 14,000 allegations have now been made by school pupils on the website, which is gathering testimonies of sexual violence and abuse.

"Consent needs to be talked about from very young age," says Dandy.

"Pornography needs to be talked about from a very young age.

"It's not inappropriate to talk to a 10-year-old about sex, it's inappropriate for a 10-year-old to be watching fake sex online and thinking that that's what's normal.

"That's the bad part. It shouldn't be uncomfortable to have this conversation."

"I was sexually assaulted, for the first time at 11 ,12, 13 by boys aged 11, and 12 and 13," she continues.

"I didn't say anything about that at the time, I didn't have the words for it. I didn't understand it.

"I didn't know that sexual assault was a thing - after I was raped, I looked it up."

On Thursday, the National Education Union (NEU) debated the issue at its virtual annual conference.

General secretary of the NEU Mary Bousted told Sky News the behaviour of schoolchildren has been "corrupted" and "gone back" due to social media and access to pornography.

She said: "It's become 'that's the way things are', and teachers in our service said they were unsure about how to deal with it and 'if I stopped and dealt with it all the time, I would never get any teaching done'.

"So, we need a national programme to help schools tackle this behaviour."

Dr Bousted added: "I think we've gone back in this respect.

"I think the way girls are treated on social media, I think the fact that so many boys watch porn, that really has corrupted the way boys and girls think about each other.

"It's lowered girls' expectations for how they should be treated by boys and its enabled too many boys to think that girls are just objects."


Pupils themselves are now asking questions about when behaviour crosses from natural sexual curiosity into abuse.

The landscape of interaction is ever-changing. Schools and parents are struggling to keep up with new forms of communication online.

A new Instagram account called Screen Grab Them invites victims to post abusive texts and Snapchats they have received, which show that all too often, the harassment is blatant.

The messages include threats of rape, often when a boy's advances are turned down.

There are also derogatory conversations.

In one, a girl is told: "Love I'm afraid to say it, but no-one is gonna rape u."

She replies asking: "Are you literally saying that I would be privileged for someone to rape me?"

He says: "No - you would be lucky."

Abusive messages of this kind are shared on many social media apps popular with youngsters


Ofsted has announced it will visit "a sample of schools and colleges where cases have been highlighted" as part of its emergency review.

Ofsted chief executive Amanda Spielman told Sky News: "I have such a big concern about the fact that so many of these young people have felt unable to tell their school what's been happening to them.

"We need to understand these disincentives to reporting because many of these schools think that they have good routes - people that children can trust who they can talk to - and yet somehow, it's not, it's not always adding up.

"So how do we make sure the pieces add up to something that gives young people the confidence to report and to talk about these things."

Young women like Dandy hope that by recounting their darkest childhood memories, tomorrow's children won't have to experience what they did.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
China’s Lifelike AI Humans Move From Livestreams Into Real-World Service Roles
UK Government Rolls Out £5.8 Billion Regional Investment Programme to Revive High Streets
AstraZeneca Ends Late-Stage Lung Cancer Trial After Data Shows No Survival Benefit
London Stocks Fall for Sixth Day as Bond Yields and Middle East Tensions Weigh on Markets
UK Government Rewrites Planning Rules to Accelerate Housing Near Transport Hubs
UK Wildfires Spread Across Southern England as Met Office Issues Severe Heat Warnings
British Doctors Warn Cancer Care Is at Risk as Hospitals Reject More Than a Quarter of Urgent Referrals
UK Hospitals Suspend Critical Care as Extreme Heat Exposes Infrastructure Failures
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
Thieves Steal Antonello da Messina Renaissance Masterpieces From Sicilian Museum
Better.com Founder Who Fired 900 Employees on Zoom Is Ousted as CEO
Italian Speed Camera Issues Nearly 32,000 Fines in 10 Weeks, Worth More Than €3 Million
AI Manager at San Francisco Store Recommends Firing Human Employee
Google Launches Pixel 11 With Gemini AI at the Center of Its Hardware Strategy
Campaigners Press Government to Strengthen Rights for Four Million Gig Workers
Government Considers Higher Private Rents to Spread Asylum Accommodation Across UK
UK Moves to Protect Historic Pubs From Conversion Into Housing and Offices
Nigel Farage Wins Clacton By-Election to Return to House of Commons
British Manufacturers Report Rising Cybersecurity Threats Across Industrial Supply Chains
Royal Navy Increases Monitoring of Russian Ships in UK Waters by 25 Percent
England Adds More Than 350 Medical Training Posts to Strengthen NHS Capacity
NHS Waiting Lists Over 52 Weeks Rise by More Than 11,000 Patients
Brent Crude Near $88 Raises Fresh UK Energy Cost Concerns
UK Treasury Warns Prolonged Strait of Hormuz Disruption Could Cut 2027 Growth to 0.3 Percent
UK Economy Grows 0.4 Percent in Second Quarter as Energy and Inflation Risks Persist
UK Heatwave Triggers Emergency Alert as Government Unveils £65 Million Farm Support Package
Reform UK Unveils Plan to Cut Welfare Spending by More Than £50 Billion a Year
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Praised Extinction Rebellion for Doing a 'Great Service'
UK Wildfire Phone Alert Triggers Backlash as Users Switch Off Emergency Warnings
Heathrow Roads Reopen After Burst Water Main Floods Access to Terminals 2 and 3
Former NBA Players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White Say They Will Enter 2027 WNBA Draft
Former Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Found Dead Days After Resigning Amid Plagiarism Row
US Appeals Court Rules AI Agent's Website Actions Are Legally Attributed to the User
France's Constitutional Council Blocks Social Media Ban for Children Under 15
Liechtenstein Changes Royal Succession Rules to Allow Women to Inherit the Throne
Women Allege Rape and Sexual Abuse at British Army College for Teenage Recruits
Minnesota: Two independent investigators posed as Muslims (one wearing a burqa) and showed how they could vote in elections without identification.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham Takes Regional Tour to Highlight Local Infrastructure and Environmental Problems
Nigel Farage Wins Clacton By-Election to Return to the House of Commons
Bank of England Warns Rising Inflation Could Squeeze UK Household Incomes
UK Government Announces £65 Million Aid Package for Farmers Hit by Severe Drought
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in Second Quarter Despite Energy Market Pressures
UK Issues Emergency Alert as Severe Wildfires Spread Across England and Wales
UK and Finland Discuss European Defence and Continued Support for Ukraine
Nigel Farage Wins Clacton By-Election to Return to the House of Commons
UK Government Deploys Military to Help Fight Wildfires and Bans Disposable Barbecues
UK Records Hottest Day of the Year as Fifth Summer Heatwave Peaks in Southern England
UK Condemns Houthi Actions and Warns of Red Sea Threat to Global Trade
UK and Solomon Islands Open Wildlife Photography Exhibition in Honiara
×