NCJ Number
208451
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 26 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2002 Pages: 149-166
Date Published
February 2002
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study examined sexual harassment in Jewish and Arab public schools in Israel.
Abstract
Previous studies of sexual harassment victimization in schools have used small convenience samples of female students and have not addressed gender and developmental factors within culturally diverse settings. The current study examined the frequency of sexual harassment in public schools in Israel in terms of how the harassment varied with the students’ culture, gender, and age. Participants were 10,400 students in grades 7 through 11 who were attending either Jewish or Arab public schools in Israel. Participants completed two self-report questionnaires regarding incidents of sexual harassment within the past month. Results of statistical analyses indicated that 29.1 percent of the participants had been sexually harassed at least once during the previous month. The groups experiencing the most harassment were Arab boys and all 8th grade students. The group with the lowest reported rate of sexual harassment was Arab girls. The findings thus suggest that, first, sexual harassment is prevalent in Israeli schools and second, that the victimization is different for boys and girls, as well as for students in Jewish and Arab schools. Intervention strategies should target the social dynamics of the school environment. Future research should focus on the relationships between sexual harassment and more severe forms of sexual aggression and violence. Tables, figures, references