One in five girls worry about sexual harassment every single day, according to a new study.

As many as three quarters of women admit to having been exposed to negative or offensive attitudes in the last six months, with 65 per cent of girls having faced some form of sexual harassment in that time.

The findings come from an ActionAid study of 2,560 young people aged 14-21 in the UK, India, Brazil and Kenya.

It was carried out to uncover when and where exposure to misogyny begins and how widespread experiences of sexual harassment are for young women.


One in five girls worry about sexual harassment every single day, according to a new study (Picture: Getty)

Out of the youngest girls interviewed in the UK (aged 14-16), 12 per cent said they worry about being sexually harassed ‘every day’, increasing dramatically to 41 per cent in Brazil.

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The research found that potential influences on attitudes to women and girls start from an early age.



Almost two thirds of 14-16-year-old girls and boys in the UK have witnessed misogynistic behavior (such as negative comments about women’s appearance or sexual jokes about girls) from those around them – from family members and friends to strangers or teachers.

And social media continues to be a damaging influence, where more than half (55%) of young people questioned across the four countries have seen or heard women being portrayed in a negative or offensive way in the last month.

A fifth of young people surveyed (a total of 523 participants across the four countries) say they have seen, heard or read about celebrities or other well-known people portraying girls/women in a negative or offensive way.

Out of the youngest girls interviewed in the UK (aged 14-16), 12 per cent said they worry about being sexually harassed ‘every day’ (Picture: Getty)

Some of the celebrities most frequently by those in the UK for behaving in this way were Donald Trump (18% – 36 of 199 participants) and presenter Piers Morgan (6% – 12 of 199).

Girish Menon, ActionAid Chief Executive, said: ‘This research shines a worrying spotlight on how many young people witness or experience sexual discrimination and harassment.

‘We know from experience that misogyny is not trivial. It happens because of deep-rooted beliefs that see women and girls as worth less, that their bodies exist to exploit, and control.’

While nine out of ten young people in the UK believe that upskirting or being forced to kiss someone is unacceptable, young men are significantly more likely to find other behaviours such as groping or sharing explicit photos online acceptable compared to young women of the same age.

The 85 per cent of young people who have witnessed sexual harassment in the last six months think that wanting to impress their friends, thinking it would be funny or believing it’s ‘what men do’ were the most likely reasons for the behaviour.

In the UK, two thirds (66%) of those who have been harassed in the last six months would feel comfortable telling someone, with two thirds of them already having done so (Picture: Getty)

In Brazil a higher proportion of young people than in the other countries studied felt it was because ‘they would think the person would find it complimentary or be pleased they found them attractive’.

Whereas in Kenya a significantly higher proportion (45%) felt it would be because they had seen similar behavior on social media (India: 38%, UK: 36%, Brazil: 25%).

Confidence in reporting sexual harassment is high among though.

In the UK, two thirds (66%) of those who have been harassed in the last six months would feel comfortable telling someone, with two thirds of them already having done so.

In Kenya 64 per cent would feel comfortable telling someone, rising to 74 per cent in Brazil and 79 per cent in India.



Young people predominately believe that education is the answer.

Other findings include: • Just under half (48%) of young people in the UK have faced some form of sexual harassment in the last six months. Rising in India (57%), Brazil (64%) and Kenya (74%). • In the UK, 85 per cent of young women have ever worried about being sexually harassed. • Attitudes to harassment fall dramatically behind in India compared to the other countries surveyed with more than double the percentage of young people thinking certain behaviours are acceptable, such as being forced to kiss someone (16% vs 5%), and upskirting (15% vs 6%). • In Brazil, catcalling and wolf whistling are rife. More than four in ten (41%) young women have been catcalled in the last six months and similar numbers (39%) have been subjected to wolf‐whistling. • Two thirds (68%) of young people (14‐21) surveyed, believe that the world is a more dangerous place for girls/young women than for boys/young men.

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