Sexual violence in schools is '˜commonplace', new figures reveal

Some of the victims were just four years old when they were targeted, Plan International UK said.

The number of sex crimes reported at UK schools has nearly trebled in four years from 719 in 2011-12 to nearly 2,000 in 2014-15, with rape, child prostitution and sexual grooming all recorded.

The children’s charity, who got the figures using the Freedom of Information Act, said the findings are “alarming” and demanded the Government makes relationship education compulsory to tackle aggressive sexual behaviour.

Lucy Russell, Plan International’s UK girls’ rights campaign manager, said: “We are very concerned about these findings, sadly we are not really shocked because we have heard time and time again from girls in the UK that sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools is sadly quite commonplace.

“It is something they are really worried about.”

In England, boys and girls as young as five were accused of carrying out sexual offences, while the youngest alleged victims were also five-years-old.

This included a five-year-old girl who was accused of sexual assault on a boy under 13, and a five year-old boy who was accused of sexual activity involving a girl under 13.

In Wales, the youngest alleged victim of a sexual offence was just four, although no details of the allegation or the child’s gender were given.

The investigation also found the number of allegations of sexual crimes reported at schools has soared from 719 in 2011-12 to 1,955 in 2014-15 - an average of 10 each school day. In total, 4,643 sexual offences were reported at UK schools during the four years.

Nearly a third (29 per cent) of the alleged crimes are thought to be committed by pupils, while school staff - including teachers - are behind 15 per cent of the allegations, according to the charity.

Girls and women overwhelmingly bear the brunt of the trend, with nearly two thirds (66 per cent) of alleged victims female, and 94 per cent of the alleged offences committed by males.

Ms Russell said the girls are facing “day in day out, everyday harassment” in schools.

She added: “Sometimes it is passed off as banter or as just having a laugh and girls are expected to put up with it. But when we ask them how they feel about it, the answer is they feel harassed and bothered about it and that’s a real concern.

“It’s important to realise that the small things build up - every time you get away with something small it means you can try the next stage - so it is really important that schools give a clear message to boys and girls that unwanted sexual touching, sexual name calling isn’t OK - it’s harassment.”

She also warned that very young children who exhibit sexual behaviour may themselves have been victims of abuse.

The figures come from 34 out of the 45 police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.