Helsinki Metropolitan school students face sexual harassment commonly

Sexual harassment of children and young people has become more common in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, according to the results of the biennial School Health Survey.

The survey showed that sexual harassment is experienced in all age groups that responded to the survey, said the City of Vantaa referring to the survey on Tuesday.

Girls in grades 8–9 and upper secondary education had experienced the most sexual harassment; almost half of them had experienced sexual suggestions and harassment.

Sexual harassment seems to be directed at increasingly younger people, as harassment experienced by pupils in grades 4–5 had increased compared to two years ago and now around 10% of respondents reported experiencing it.

This year, schools, educational institutions and youth centres in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area will address the phenomenon so that children and young people can learn to identify and intervene in sexual harassment.

The topic will be discussed in schools from grade 5 upwards in an age-appropriate manner in Espoo, Helsinki, Kauniainen and Vantaa.

Material on the topic will also be produced for the channels of social media influencers popular among young people.

Every two years, the national School Health Survey produces diverse monitoring data on the health and well-being of children and young people.

Pupils in grades 4–5 and 8–9 and students in years 1–2 of upper secondary and vocational education answer the survey.

In 2023, a total of 47,134 pupils responded to the survey in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.

Sexual harassment can occur in public spaces, at home or online. In social media channels, sexual harassment experienced by young people is typically sexual messages and images sent to them. Face-to-face interaction also involves physical sexual actions.

In recent years, the sending of sexually explicit images, in particular, has become more common among young people, as the taking and sharing of any kind of images and videos has become more commonplace.

Sexual harassment on social media has become such a common phenomenon that some young people think it is a normal part of social media.

The Helsinki Metropolitan Area municipalities have produced materials to support teachers and youth workers in discussing sexual harassment with children and young people.

The support material for adults includes explanations of concepts, discussion questions and participatory assignments to support discussing the phenomenon.