What is this article about?

Many American teenage girls have experienced sexual harassment and nearly a quarter of female college students have been the victim of sexual assault. Despite the negative and long-term consequences of these experiences on their emotional, physical and mental health, perpetrating sexual assault and harassment is usually seen as normative. Very few perpetrators receive punishment. Cases are rarely tried and merely 5% of them result in a conviction. In spite of much media attention on this topic (MeToo) and the Weinstein-trial, there is still significant cultural acceptance of sexual assault and harassment of women.

The tolerance and prevalence of sexual assault and harassment against girls by boys is the expected developmental result of the present cultural context in which boys and girls are socialized. Previous research on this matter concentrated on adolescence and the what, who and where question. Hardly any research was done on how the normative school, family and cultural contexts – in which young kids develop - support acceptance and perpetration of sexual harassment. Policymakers and researcher need to understand how the social contexts of kids might facilitate later sexual harassment.  

In order to review relevant literature and propose factors, the bio-ecological theoretical framework of Bronfenbrenner was used. The proximal contexts of peers, schools and parents and the distal contexts of media content play a crucial role in the prevalence of sexual harassment. The interactions and engagement of children with these contexts shape their development. As kids enter adolescence, these interactions have resulted into behaviors that accept the perpetration of assault and harassment against women.

What is the theoretical framework?

According to Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological systems theory, children interact with their distal and proximal context. These contexts show overlap and interact with one another. The characteristics of an individual child are shaped by their proximal environments (the microsystem): their peers, school and family. Kids are directly influenced by the interactions with their friends, siblings, parents, class mates etc. Kids are also heavily influenced by their (indirect) distal environments (the exosystem), like mass media. These contexts together form a broader culture (the macrosystem). Lastly, the theory argues that children’s developmental and biological processes moderate and inform the impact of the distal and proximal context (the chronosystem).

Sexual harassment: unwelcome sexual behavior, either physical, nonverbal or verbal, that takes place electronically or in person. Examples are touching, joking, gesturing and displaying pictures. The most extreme version is ‘sexual assault’: sexual touching and penetration obtained by incapacitation or force. The prevalence of sexual assault and harassment is partly a consequence of the sexualization of females, which occurs when someone’s value is purely based on sexual appeal, being physical attractive is equated with being sexy, when someone is considered a sexual object or when sexuality is inappropriately imposed upon someone (like a child).

Subjects of sexual objectification are usually females, whereas males are ought to embody ‘hegemonic masculinity’ (strong, aggressive, dominant). This leads to opposite roles of women and men. Following the cultural stereotypes,  men are expected to be sexually promiscuous (the aggressors), while women should behave passively and prioritize the sexual needs of men (the objects). Boys sexually harassing girls is a direct behavioral result of these sexualized gender stereotypes. Therefore, it is important to understand how social contexts influence the development of sexualized gender stereotypes.

Sexual harassment mostly occurs in adolescence. In a national survey among teenagers, almost half of the girls declared having experience with unwanted comments, gestures or jokes, compared with less than a quarter of the boys. They were also more likely to mention being sexually intimidated or forced into sexual things by boys. Boys mentioned being harassed (being called gay for example) by other boys more often than by girls.

Sexual harassment usually occurs between peers, in the presence of a small group and in schools. Many students have witnessed sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is not only conducted in public, but also accepted by other students. Peer group norms heavily influence the degree of toleration. Most did it because so many others do it and they were encouraged by friends.

Sexual harassment is often tolerated and seen as normative by both adults and children. Adolescents think there are hardly any consequences for perpetrators. Peer sexual harassment is usually considered as normal, because it is associated with milestones as dating, puberty and becoming sexually active. Girls also mentioned that the inaction by teachers that witnessed the harassment was equally upsetting. Even though harassment is considered damaging, perpetrators are hardly punished. On the contrary: victims are frequently the ones being (socially) punished for reporting the harassment, whereas popular perpetrators are still liked.

Three crucial microsystems of children contribute to the high incidence of sexual harassment: peers, schools and parents. Parents emphasize gender as a functional category and binary, which worsens the gender stereotypes. They teach daughters to be passive and put effort in their appearance, and sons to be aggressive. Peers exacerbate gender differences by segregating themselves by gender. Schools reinforce the differences between boys and girls, and do not intervene when sexual harassment starts.

The exosystem also has a big influence on development. In particular toys and media targeted at kids focus on gender differences, promote girls’ sexualization and boys’ aggression, and offer easy access to violent and sexist pornography. Children have an active role in choosing, influencing and engaging these distal and proximal processes.

What is the role of the parents?

Parents provide the most important and first context in shaping the early development of children. They are responsible for teaching and emphasizing on the gender differences and stereotypes straight from the birth. They shape their kids’ development by a functional use of gender, through the emotional and behavioral socialization of their children, sexualization and an appearance-focus.

Most parents focus on stereotypical, binary differences between girls and boys, resulting into the development of stereotypes. Kids try to comprehend how their world is (socially) categorized. They consider the categories referring to gender important, because their parents use them in a functional way: to label, categorize and sort people. The salience of the kids’ gender is increased by their names, clothes, bedroom, hairdo, toys and colors. Kids often hear gender categories through labeling (“See that woman there? You are such a good boy!”). It directs their attention to gender as a category. Eventually, they develop stereotypes about each category.

Parents are responsible for socializing their kids’ behavioral and emotional expressions. They promote passive and submissive behavior in daughters, and aggressive and angry behavior in sons. Parents tend to pay more attention to submissive emotions (anxiety, sadness) of girls and are more likely to tolerate aggressive behavior by boys. They also seem to use more psychical control with sons. These gender differences are maintained over time: boys in middle childhood display more physical aggression.

The appearance-focus is expressed by dressing girls in pink clothes and accessories. Young girls ask if they look pretty or complain about their hair. The focus on appearance can lead to sexualization. Young girls want to look like their barbie doll or popular girls and starting wearing make-up and tight clothes. While appearance-focused behavior is mostly influenced by peers, the mother's behavior can also be the reason, and the parents of sexualized young girls allow and purchase their clothing, make-up and toys. Boys usually receive aggression-focused toys.

By the end of early childhood, kids have been socialized according to their gender, understand what behavior is appropriate for boys and girls and have constructed gender stereotypes. Girls have been encouraged to look pretty and be submissive, while aggressive behavior by boys has been accepted. This early developments have implications for later bullying and eventually sexual harassment.

What is the role of peers?

The peer group directly shapes the development of children. Some argue that peers have more influence on preferences, activities and behaviors than parents. Most children and teenagers behave in accordance with the norms of their peers. As soon as children start school, gender differences become more exaggerated due to the pressure of being in peer groups.

Children in early childhood tend to play with peers of the same sex. Girls and boys segregate themselves, partly due to early gender differences in play styles and interests. Segregation is also the result of the belief that girls are more similar to girls and vice versa, which makes them want to interact more with children of the same sex. As they spend so much time playing together, the gender socialization of themselves increases and the initial small differences exacerbate. Playing in peer groups influences kids by further enhancing their stereotypical preferences and skills. Gender segregation also limits the quality and amount of cross-gender interactions. Cross-group contact is an effective strategy for enhancing positive intergroup interactions and attitudes. It creates the feeling of familiarity with peers from another group and fosters friendships. Gender segregation maintains gender stereotypes and uncomfortable interactions.

During middle childhood, it becomes more important for children to conform to peer norms. Girls and boys have a preference for behaviors and appearances that are typical for a gender. Peers that behave very gender-typical are seen as more popular and having a higher social status. Peers describe popular girls as nice and pretty, and popular boys as strong and liked by girls. Hegemonic masculinity puts more pressure on boys to conform to gender norms. Many boys feel pressured to be aggressive, athletic and dominant (macho). This pressure is still present during adolescence. Conformity to gender norms for girls means being sexualized. Children, especially girls, perceive sexualized girls to be more popular and having a high social status. Children – especially boys - that do not conform to gender norms are more likely to be bullied or harassed. Boys are more pressured by parents and peers to conform to gender norms and are treated worse when they don’t. Boys that show too little (sexual) attraction to girls are likely to face homophobic harassment.

Gender segregation and limited cross-gender interactions during childhood might result into later sexual harassment. When puberty hits, adolescents start wanting to interact with peers of the other gender, but due to a lack a (romantic) skills, sexual harassment happens. Adolescent boys maintain or gain a high social status by engaging in sexual harassment, and adolescent girls by being sexually objectified. Boys see sexual harassment as a way of proving their popularity and heterosexuality. Having a central place in the group makes a boy more likely to perpetrate sexual harassment. The interaction within boy-groups is also relevant. Conversations with badly behaving peers and laughing at it is associated with bad behavior later on.

What is the role of schools?

Schools heavily influence the lives of children in early childhood. They indirectly foster the acceptance of sexual harassment by emphasizing the functional use of gender (just like parents) and categorizing kids based on gender, which reinforces the gender stereotypes. School and teachers directly foster the acceptance of sexual harassment through a lack of education and policies.

Teachers often use gender labels verbally (“welcome boys and girls”) and in the organization of classrooms (separate activities and boards). Extracurricular activities and physical education (sports teams with only boys) are also often gender segregated. The functional use of gender and the segregation of kids further restricts cross-group interaction and the possibility to build cross-gender friendships. Lastly, the school structure can influence the salience of gender as a category (mixed or single-gender schools).

Sexual harassment increases when children start middle school. Despite this increase, teachers usually ignore it. This may partly be due to a misunderstanding of sexual harassment between peers, and a lack of training and education on recognizing and dealing with it. More than half of the girls reported not telling anyone, because it would make no difference. Paying no or not enough attention to sexual harassment also occurs at a structural level, as it is not covered in sexual education. Many children are not taught about consent. Even when school policies address sexual harassment, they are often not used.

School structures and teachers foster a social context in which the gender stereotypes are exacerbated. Research indicates that supportive policies and interventions by teachers can make a difference. 

What is the role of children’s toys, marketing and media?

The acceptance of sexual harassment is further reinforced by marketing and media. Media targeted at infants encourage the sexualization of girls and aggressive, sex-focused behavior by boys. Their influence fosters (sexualized) gender stereotypes, which leads to the acceptance and perpetration of sexual harassment. The easy access to violent and sexist pornography from a young age normalizes the acceptance even further.

Television shows, magazines, movies, videos and games portray females as sexualized. Popular shows for kids involve the objectification of girls by boys and self-objectification by girls. Sports media sexualize female athletes. Toys for girls focus on beauty. Gay or feminine boys in television programs are usually joked about. A longitudinal study showed that watching mainstream television caused women to be seen as sex objects and men as sexually dominant.

Media focus on aggressive behavior in boys: male characters in TV shows are often behaving badly. Popular sports programs reinforce violence and aggression. Toys as weapons and action figures are exclusively marketed for boys. In addition to the marketing of boys, parents are more likely to buy gender-typical toys for their children.

Research shows that boys who consumed more sexually explicit media perpetrated more sexual harassment later in life than their peers. Adolescent boys who played video games with sexualized female characters displayed more tolerance and acceptance of sexual misbehavior.

What do the authors propose?

he proposed theoretical model emphasized a number of important implications for policymakers, teachers, parents and researchers.

• Policymakers: easily obtained and enforced school policies should directly express intolerance of sexual harassment between peers. Sexual education needs to cover consent and sexual harassment. Policies and practices should be focused on elementary, middle and high school teachers. This includes reducing the use of gender as a functional category, segregation by gender and no longer considering gender exclusively as a binary.
• Teachers: same as for policymakers and they need training about the consequences of harassment and interventions.
• Parents: a reduced use of gender as a category, encouraging kids to join mixed gender peer groups, pay more attention to the toys they buy and the media they let their kids consume. Teach children to be critical, discuss media content and monitor their access to sexualized media.
• Researchers: future research should focus on the interaction between the contexts (peers, media, parents, schools) and with the child’s characteristics. It also needs to be investigated how individual differences in kids moderate their responses to school and parent effects, what the possible predictors of sexual harassment in early childhood are, how middle school norms of sexual harassment could predict perpetration of harassment in high school, what barriers teachers encounter regarding intervening and how interventions in early childhood should be targeted.