The Sexual Assault Survey

 In our survey, 65% of participants had experienced unwanted touching, 14% had been forced to have sex when they were unable to consent and 10% had been violently raped. The survey confirmed the shocking prevalence of sexual assault, but it also confirmed the unarguable relationship between sexual assault and mental ill health. 

“I can no longer do simple things such as shower, so disgustingly I don't shower that often, but it causes me distress. I can't look at myself naked. I cant look in the mirror. I have major trust issues. I harm myself because I disgust myself What happened to me caused me to make an attempt on my life which obviously failed. I'm still here i am not the same person” 

When we talk about mental ill health we rarely consider it in the context of sexual assault, but we should, because the consequences for young people are devastating. The most common mental consequence of rape, or sexual assault, is PTSD. Young people who have been raped are also 13 times more likely to try to kill themselves and 26 times more likely to have problems with substance abuse and self-harm according to research by Elizabeth Hughes at the University of Leeds (2019).

“I feel so trapped. I self-harm every day to cope and still barely make it through the day, I have been continually bullied and sexually assaulted, but I have no friends, and my school and my family are useless. I constantly feel depressed, I have nothing to live for and nothing to look forward to in the future I just wish I had the balls to kill my self”

Data from the 2020 Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that in 2019, 63% of female rape victims and 47% of male victims experienced mental or emotional problems, and one in ten victims attempted suicide as a result. In a 2019 study by Dr Sophie Khadr at University College London, within five months after being raped or sexually assaulted, 80% of 13-17 year olds girls  had at least one psychiatric disorder. 

“One of the problems with untrained under confident teachers delivering sex ed is that they end up sticking to the topics that they feel safe with.”

In the UK, sexual violence is a crime with no punishment because the prosecution rate for rape is just 1.3% and that failure, in part, explains why 70% of young people who filled in our survey had not reported the fact that they had been sexually assaulted. Most of them (62%) said that they knew it would be pointless because no one would do anything about it; 63%  just wanted to forget about it; 54% were too ashamed and 46% were afraid of what the person that had assaulted them would do.

“I was raped this summer. I eventually told my mum and she told the police but the case was dropped due to lack of evidence. Every time someone mentions the word rape now I break down. How can I get over this?”

However 69% of those who filled in the survey also said that they didn’t report their sexual assault because they don’t know whether what has happened to them was serious enough. This is a knowledge gap which education could eliminate, but 68% said that sex education in their school was taught by a regular teacher, rather than a trained PSHE teacher or an external provider.  Sex education is a specialist subject, so it should be taught by specialists. And it is fundamentally important.  Not everyone who learns maths will become a mathematician, but everyone who has sex education will grow up and have sex.  One of the problems with untrained under confident teachers delivering sex ed is that they end up sticking to the topics that they feel safe with. We gave users a list of topics and asked them which ones they had been taught about in sex ed classes. The results are not particularly surprising; 71% had been taught about safe sex, 68% had been taught about contraception and 65% had been taught about consent, but consent is a comparatively easy topic to tackle. Only 28% of the young people who responded to this survey had been taught about sexual assault, a criminal offence that will affect three quarters of all girls and a third of boys at some point.   

As a result of this project Tellmi created a video that shows teachers how to use the Tellmi web app to support sex education in PSHE lessons. By filtering the feed, teachers can select a range of topics that are directly aligned with the PSHE curriculum, for example sexual health, relationships, consent, bullying or sexual harassment. Discussing posts relating to those topics from the peer support feed enables students to engage in safe discussions and ask questions that they may be too embarrassed or nervous otherwise. The directory also provides direct access to helplines, local services and websites as well as vetted apps and tools that allow students to explore PSHE topics in a safe, anonymous space. 

If you would like to find out how Tellmi can support your PSHE lessons and the wider work within schools watch and share this video: