Sexual harassment against female students in senior high schools in the Kumasi metropolis, Ashanti region of Ghana

Abstract

The aim of this research was to investigate into the issue of sexual harassment against female students in Senior High Schools the Kumasi Metropolis, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The descriptive survey research design was used for the study. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select the participants. A total of 540 female students were selected from six co-educational Senior High Schools. The main instrument used for the data collection was a questionnaire. The results showed that majority of the participants knew about the issue of sexual harassment of female students in schools. The respondents also identified the media and friends as their main source of information. It was also found that verbal sexual harassment was the most common form of sexual harassment, while female boarding students reported a higher level of sexual harassment than the female day students. Male students and male teachers were the worst perpetrators of sexual harassment in the schools. On the whole, it was found that the incidence of sexual harassment against female students in the senior high schools in the Kumasi Metropolis was widespread and a real problem to the female students. It is recommended that school authorities should incorporate the issue of sexual harassment into their fresh students’ orientation programmes, and create a female friendly school environment for the female students. Secondly, parents should show much interest in their female wards’ education by complementing the effort of the school in educating students.