Hawke's Bay principal says girls around NZ face 'concerning' harassment

Dawn Ackroyd said young people across the country are dealing with issues similar to those identified in the Christchurch sexual harassment survey. Photo / NZME

The principal of a high school for girls in Hawke's Bay says it "stands to reason" that Christchurch Girls' High School students are not the only ones who are facing concerning rates of sexual harassment.

A Christchurch Girls' High School survey found that 59.3 per cent of girls who took part said they had been harassed, more than a quarter of students say they had been harassed more than 10 times and more than 20 students said they have been raped.

The survey was sent to 1042 students and 725 participated.

The survey found men count for 91 per cent of the identified sexual harassers, including young men the same age as the students and older men.

On behalf of the Hawke's Bay Secondary Schools' Principals' Association, Napier Girls' High School Principal Dawn Ackroyd said the association was "saddened and concerned" at the scale and extent of the survey's findings.

"It concerns us deeply if students are keeping it to themselves and not reporting any situation where they feel vulnerable or there is safety threatened - that there is a sense of normalising the behaviour.

"It stands to reason that young people across the country are dealing with similar issues - it is a concern for our wider communities and not just schools."

She said schools do everything they can to empower students to call out such behaviour and provide a safe place to discuss and encourage reporting.

"This is the collective responsibility of all of us in society, not just those of us in schools."

In secondary school's health curriculum these issues are addressed.

Ackroyd said this includes the year 12 'Loves Me Not' programme run by police to prevent abusive behaviour in relationships, the 'Mates and Dates' programme and 'Attitude' programme which equips teenagers with information and skills to negotiate their adolescent years and junior levels health programmes based around healthy relationships.

She said last year the Ministry of Education released a refreshed guide for schools, teachers and leaders around relationships and sexuality education which includes "strengthened" information about consent education.