Breaking the Silence: Experiencing and Witnessing Sexual Harassment at UNRWA Schools in Bethlehem City, Palestine
Date
2016-01-03
Authors
Ghrayeb, Farid A.W.
Alwawi, Abdallah
Rasheed, Osaid
Qraqra, Dua
abu-hussein, Malik
Nimer, Azam
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
IDOSI Publications
Abstract
Sexual harassment is a pervasive problem affecting nearly half of all students over the course of their
academic lives. Far less is known about the past experience and witness of students being subjected to Sexual
harassment. The aim of the study was to assess the student’s past witness and experience with different forms
of sexual harassment at UNRWA schools in Bethlehem city. A descriptive cross-sectional design was adopted
in this study. Four UNRWA schools (two males and two female schools) were selected randomly from
Bethlehem City. A sample of 241 students from 7 through 9 grade at the four schools th th were included in the
study. The study tool was a pre-designed questionnaire containing questions on past exposure to 19 items and
witness to 25 items covering three forms of sexual harassment (physical, verbal and visual). Results revealed
that, the vast majority of middle school students are both SH targets and witnesses, where the most frequent
type of SH was visual/verbal SH, followed by physical SH. The results also indicated a significant association
between gender of the participant and SH. Witnessing and experiencing SH has a negative impact on school
aged children’s physical, social, cognitive and emotional development. Students who have been exposed to
SH need to be helped to go over the abuse and empowered with safety plans to take when they next encounter
similar situations. The study calls for holding anti- harassment awareness campaigns to raise the awareness
of students on sexual harassment in Palestine.
Description
Keywords
Sexual harassment , Witnessing , Middle school , Palestine