Ensuring that schools are safe spaces is essential to enable all students to learn and thrive. We appreciate that school safety and creating a positive and supportive school culture are priorities for Pittsburgh Public Schools. Safety is a top priority for us as well, which led us to engage in listening sessions with girls to hear about their experiences of feeling safe (or not) within school. During these sessions conducted with students from Planned Parenthood and Gwen’s Girls, students shared that they are not safe at school, that sexual and other forms of harassment from classmates, teachers, and staff is a daily occurrence, that this experience is pervasive and severe, and that it is interfering with their ability to thrive. This conduct is common and often unchallenged. Additionally, students involved in the Women and Girls Foundation’s GirlGov program talked with teachers in schools who said they lack sufficient information on how to effectively respond to or report sexual harassment. Numerous national studies have shown that students, especially girls, experience sexual harassment frequently within their schools. The American Association of University Women study found that of 1,965 students surveyed, 48% of experienced sexual harassment during the 2010-2011 school year. We believe that all schools in Allegheny county can and MUST do better to prevent and respond to sexual harassment. As the #MeToo movement continues to garner national and international attention, we feel this is a crucial time to address sexual harassment and other forms of harassment within Pittsburgh Public Schools. As the Black Girls Equity Alliance (BGEA)—a coalition comprised of individuals, community-based organizations, universities, and government entities that work with Black girls and acknowledge that their lives and experiences are unique within existing societal constructs—our mission is to eradicate inequities affecting Black girls in Allegheny County. Members working on this topic include representatives from Gwen’s Girls, Planned Parenthood of Western PA, the Women’s Law Project, FISA Foundation, GirlGov, PAAR, YUIR Pittsburgh, other organizations, universities, and government entities. We invite the Pittsburgh Board of Public Education to collaborate with us to eradicate sexual and other forms of harassment within schools that impacts all students, regardless of gender identity. In particular, we ask that the Pittsburgh Board of Public Education:
Gwen’s Girls
Britney G Brinkman, PhD Allyce Pinchback Amanda Cross, PhD Elizabeth Miller, MD, PhD Jose Garth FISA Foundation Planned Parenthood of Western PA Women and Girls Foundation Pittsburgh Action Against Rape (PAAR) Women’s Law Project YUIR Pittsburgh Christine Gordon Sara Goodkind, PhD Katie Horowitz American Friends Service Committee PGH Pittsburgh for CEDAW Coalition Julie Evans Betty Braxter, PhD Jody Figas Julianna Wegner M. Shernell Smith Jessica Ruffin Lynn Knezevich Alison Hall Azadeh Masalehdan Block, PhD Education Law Center Amanda Neatrour Melissa Swauger, PhD Comments are closed.
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AboutEMPOWERTAINMENT aims to take a critical look at media in regards to how gender and women/girls are portrayed. From popular articles, videos, and websites, to original submissions, we want to not only examine the media and its relation to gender, but help shift it. Archives
November 2017
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