A THIRD of Scottish secondary school boys believe girls who wear revealing clothing are “asking for trouble”.
A survey conducted by the University of Glasgow, which involved more than 13,000 pupils aged 11 to 18 across Scotland, has prompted calls for action to address misogynistic attitudes amongst teens and young adults.
The research, conducted across 37 secondary schools, revealed a significant divide between male and female pupils’ views on gender, harassment and equality.
One in four boys said the term “sexual harassment” didn’t apply if their behaviour was meant as a joke – a view shared by just 7% of girls.
Half of the boys surveyed believed that “overall, there are more things that boys are better at than girls,” despite 93% saying they expected equal opportunities in life.
The study’s five authors said their findings should be discussed in classrooms, much like the Netflix drama Adolescence, which highlights the harmful effects of social media on teenage relationships.
In a letter published in The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, they wrote: “Most boys do not hold these negative views, but there is an urgent need to address the fact that a sizeable minority do.”
Professor Kirstin Mitchell, who led the research, told The Times that the scale of the survey offers a “general culture” snapshot behind more serious violence against women and girls.
She described the belief held by a third of boys that revealing clothing meant girls were “asking for trouble” as “particularly troubling”.
“That is the kind of attitude which is underlying when incidents of sexual harassment do happen,” she said.
The study also found 32% of boys would judge a girl more harshly than a boy for having multiple sexual partners, compared to 12% of girls.
More than four in 10 boys agreed that “boys who behave like girls are weak,” a view held by just 13% of girls.
The study was carried out as part of Equally Safe in Schools, a Rape Crisis Scotland programme aimed at tackling gender-based violence.
It found that the results were similar across all of the institutions involved, regardless of location or socioeconomic backgrounds.
