Hlavka, Heather R

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epublications@Marquette

Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications Social and Cultural Sciences, Department of 1-9-2018 Youth and Sexual Harassment: From #MeToo to #MeTooK12 Heather R. Hlavka Follow this and additional works at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/socs_fac  Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons January 9,2018Youth and Sexual Harassment: From #MeToo to#MeTooK12genderpolicyreport.umn.edu/youth-and-sexual-harassment-from-metoo-to-metook12Courageous survivors and supporters are mobilizing to fight sexual violence, even within aculture that has long-since actively obscured violence against women. Online mobilizationthrough hashtags like #MeToo, #YesAllWomen, #YouOKSis, and others are, in part, arealization of decades of feminist research and activism around rape culture and toxicmasculinity, while media outlets featuring brave survivors are helping the broader publicrecognize and challenge misogynistic environments. Whether learning about the silencingeffects of nondisclosure agreements or institutional and governmental failures to enforceTitle IX, story after story, accusation after accusation, we are peeling back the layers ofpatriarchy and silence. We are exposing institutions that have long reinforced inequalities.Yet aside from the sorts of stories that came to light in Roy Moore’s failed Senate campaign,we hear very little from youth, despite evidence that they endure substantial rates of sexualharassment and violence.Underreporting of child sexual assault is commonly linked to family loyalty and to fearabout being disbelieved, treated negatively, blamed for the assault, or dismissed. Just asadult women and men have few incentives to come forward and reveal their abuse in aclimate that questions their motives, responses, delays, and their very voices, young peoplehave little incentive to go to adults and reveal the victimization they have endured. If wewant to protect kids from sexual violence and abuse, we must ask incredibly hard questions:How does our culture foster persistent sexual violence? How can we facilitate disclosures?How can we allow our schools, our homes, and our neighborhoods to represent the mostdangerous, toxic, and vulnerable spaces for children? These are where the roots of genderinequality begin. Report after report after report—even with underreporting caused byshame, stigma, and cultural pressure, shows that sexual victimization is common amongchildren and youth across the United States. We cannot continue to believe otherwise.1/3In my own study, I found that objectification, sexual harassment, and abuse were woven intothe fabric of girls’ lives.Sexualized violence was often normalized because it was so common and indiscriminate.“That’s what boys do,” “They do it to everyone.” In a heteronormative culture, young womenare taught to acquiesce, to question their feelings and desires, and to comply and stay silentfor the sake of others or to prevent conflict. In a recently published companion piece, Istudied young men’s experiences with sexual violence, too. The toxic expectations ofmasculinity excluded these boys from dominant notions of victimhood (in which men arepositioned as sexual aggressors and women as victims); they grew up believing that mencould not be sexually victimized because a “real” man is strong, powerful, self-sufficient, andimpenetrable. And yet boys, too, were sexually victimized.Children learn what is acceptable and what is expected of them from their families, schools,culture, and institutions that largely fail to hold boys and men accountable for sexualvictimization.They also fail to fully acknowledge boys as victims. Young men are left alone to negotiatewhat it means to be victimized in a culture that reinforces rape tropes and stigmatizingmyths about homosexuality and emasculation. Similar to C.J. Pascoe’s and JamesMesserschmidt’s work, many boys in my study did not disclose assault and often sought toregain power by emphasizing strength and physical and sexual aggression. Other researchhas found that families “reaffirm” the masculinity of boy victims by teaching them toobjectify and degrade women and girls in an attempt to assert heterosexuality. Maybe thisis how we end up with 1 in 3 college men  saying they would rape a woman if they could getaway with it.This is how rape culture functions. We disempower and empower girls and boys in sexist,racist, misogynist ways. We give little attention or credence to children’s real experiences,we teach women and girls to “just say no” and excuse men and boys when they refuse totake no for an answer. We erase institutional and structural responsibility, as well as ourindividual responsibility to sensitively ask, carefully listen, and actually hear youth, despiteour own fears.National policy conversations about sexual assault often focus on colleges and universities,and that’s important. But overlooking K-12 sexual harassment and abuse functionally permitsand encourages it—and lays the groundwork for rape culture to flourish on campuses, inboardrooms, and in power structures of all sorts.By listening to youths’ voices, structures of violence, power, and privilege become apparent.Their experiences do not easily translate to law and policy reforms, but they can beincorporated into best practices. For example, children who fear that “nothing will be done”2/3if they report their abuse often have little trust in criminal justice authorities; I find that fearof the intrusive nature of state intervention, especially when the perpetrator is a familymember or friend, is a real barrier to change. To that end, Children’s Advocacy Centers –regarded as best practice for improving children’s experiences when reporting violence –should carefully consider whether using law enforcement officials to complete on-the-sceneinterviews or transport children might actually hinder disclosures. Listening to youth canreveal systemic flaws that keep other youth from speaking up.We must also acknowledge that for many children and adults, justice is often not dependentupon state punishment. For many youth, particularly minority and socioeconomicallydisadvantaged youth, a social system of carceral punishment begins in schools with zero-tolerance policies. A tendency to label and punish children rather than educate andincorporate restorative justice practices to assist victims, families, and communities affectedby violence is often a source of children’s silence.Further, if we cannot talk about sex as a culture, how can we talk about sexual violence?Programs like Stop Sexual Assault in Schools (SSAIS) work to educate students, families, andschools about the right to an equal education uncompromised by gendered violence.Piggybacking on the coverage of workplace sexual harassment, SSAIS recently launched a#MeTooK12 campaign, helping bolster their argument that elementary schools are idealplaces for early discussions about cultural gender norms, bodily integrity and respect,coercion, consent, and healthy relationships including intersectional approaches tosexuality, gender, age, race, class, and abilities. One-size-fits-all policies often lack the localknowledge necessary to prevent and intervene in these ways. But by listening, we cancreate policies that respond appropriately to specific K-12 contexts.Let us remember that #MeToo was created by Tarana Burke when she realized she didn’tknow how to respond to a 13-year-old girl who had been sexually assaulted.We need to treat young people as knowledgeable agents and decision-makers, create safespaces for dialogue, and challenge our systems and ourselves to confront the prevalence ofnormalized, sexualized violence experienced by many children. We must challenge ourcommunities, our families, and our government to confront the gendered cultural practicesthat are so clearly communicated and frightfully disempowering to children.© 2019 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. The University ofMinnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer. Privacy Statement 3/3

Youth and Sexual Harassment: From #MeToo to #MeTooK12

https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1268&amp;context=socs_fac

Youth and Sexual Harassment: From #MeToo to #MeTooK12

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