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Dinner ladies, receptionists and teaching ­assistants at ­schools are being sexually abused by kids as young as nine, research has revealed.

Some women told how children have groped their breasts and exposed their private parts to them.

A study by the GMB union shows one in ten school support staff has experienced sexually inappropriate behaviour from pupils.

More than 4,600 members were polled before its 101st annual congress, which starts in Brighton on Sunday.

National officer Karen Leonard said: “These testimonies make very tough reading. It’s not surprising many women are stressed, intimidated and even left with mental scars.”

(Image: Getty)

One support worker, who did not want to be named, told the Sunday People boys as young as nine had ­exposed themselves to her at school.

She said: “It happens three or four times a year. Boys will strip off and show you their private parts after being sent to a ‘chill-out room’ to calm down. When you tell them to put their clothes back on they call you a pervert.

(Image: Getty)

“I’ve had boys telling me to perform sex acts on them. Once a pupil asked me what I was doing at the weekend and when I told him I was going to my dad’s birthday party he asked if I was going to perform a sex act on him as a present.

“There is no counselling for any of this. It’s just seen as part of the job – something you have to put up with.”

Other incidents ­reported include boys masturbating in the classroom and smacking female staff members on the bottom.

Support workers also revealed they had been called “babe”, “beautiful”, “my MILF” and “prostitute”.

The GMB is calling on schools to crack down on the behaviour.