Sexual bullying is the unprovoked victimisation of a man or woman, young or old, and can be verbal, psychological or physical in nature. Kidscape, the first UK charity established specifically to prevent bullying and child sexual abuse, has seen a dramatic rise in this type – over the last 4 or 5 years its helpline used to get one or two calls a year compared to two or three calls a week now. The most recent UK government figures show that there were 3,500 exclusions and 140 expulsions from English schools for sexual misconduct – anything from explicit graffiti to serious sexual assault; 280 of those expulsions were from primary schools and in 20 cases the child responsible was just 5 years old.

Sexual bullying includes:

• Unwelcome sexual comments
• Sexualised name-calling
• Rumour mongering about a person’s sexual orientation or behaviour
• Unwanted physical contact
• Physical assault