(Jamaica Gleaner) The growing problem of sexual attacks on young girls by older girls at some schools has attracted the attention of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (JAPSS).
The issue has also caught the attention of Children’s Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison.
Following a Gleaner report on Friday about the struggles facing the leadership of a prominent Corporate Area all-girls high school in dealing with the problem, president of JAPSS, Sharon Reid, admitted that this was a problem in some schools.
Reid told The Gleaner that the matter would be a major item of discussion at its retreat scheduled for May under the theme ‘Facing Challenges of Leadership Together’.
However, Reid said the association would not be focusing only on the problem of sexual harassment.
She said the principals would be looking at challenges to societal norms in general and the problems these present.
“We will be addressing it but in the wider context of challenges we face in a changed culture.
“This is only one tip of the iceberg as we seek to cope with the challenges to societal norms that they (some students) have accepted as acceptable behaviour and the pressures that these young people are getting from a society telling them that there is a paradigm shift now and certain behaviours are OK,” she said.
In the meantime, the children’s advocate said while the issue has been highlighted in one school, her office has been getting information that it exists in others as well.
She said the issue had been overlooked for too long and it was now time for action.
“We want persons to recognise that the problem exists and we need to engage all the stakeholders and craft a policy to handle these issues in schools because homosexuality is becoming pervasive and there are lots of implications,” she argued.
According to Gordon Harrison, there needs to be a public-education campaign to sensitise the offenders about the breaches they are committing.
“If it is that older girls are forcing younger girls to perform sexual acts, then the girls need to be advised that it is a criminal offence, so it is not just them satisfying their sexual desires but it is a breach of the law because girls can now be charged for grievous sexual assaults,” she said.
