Giving Compass' Take:

• Joel Levin, writing for The 74, discusses the ways that the National Campaign to Stop Sexual Assaults in Schools has made a significant impact on how k-12 educators and administrators address and end issues of sexual assault. 

• How can donor capital advance this campaign across districts nationwide? How is your local school district addressing sexual assault? 

• Read about preventing sexual violence through comprehensive sex education. 

On New Year’s Day 2018, Stop Sexual Assault in Schools (SSAIS) launched the #MeTooK12 campaign in partnership with the National Women’s Law Center. The campaign harnesses the awareness and urgency generated by the #MeToo movement to spotlight the widespread sexual harassment that students experience before entering college or the workforce.

On this second anniversary, we look at the campaign’s impact to date and where it’s headed.

Shortly after the launch, #MeTooK12 was featured in major national and international news outlets. Reporters interviewed K-12 parents, counselors and educators, and gave students an opportunity to share their experiences. Despite statistics showing that most K-12 students experience sexual harassment before graduation, these journalists noted that the issue has been widely overlooked, dismissed and normalized.

#MeTooK12 appears in new books aimed at middle school and high school students. The Silence Breakers and the #metoo Movement describes the campaign as promoting school culture change, and Sexual Harassment in the Age of #metoo states that #MeTooK12 wants to “give middle school and high school students a place to speak out about sexual assault.”

In sum, #MeTooK12 has kindled conversations in disciplines as diverse as sexual assault prevention and response, social work, gender equity, child development and educational leadership, as well as many others. The campaign’s achievements include:

  • Amplifying the voices of students who had been victimized by peer and staff harassment;
  • Engaging a diverse group of constituencies around the need to address systemic gender discrimination in K-12 schools;
  • Broadening the #MeToo movement to encompass the antecedents/roots of workplace sexual harassment;
  • Stimulating adoption of K-12 sexual harassment prevention programs: consent education, bystander intervention and Title IX compliance

'Read the full article about campaign to stop sexual assault by Joel Levin at The 74.