'They’d pay £20 to rape me': 1,664 UK primary schools linked to child sex abuse and harassment, report reveals

An investigation has found that rape culture exists in over 1,600 primary schools across the UK and Ireland, where students aged five to 11 have anonymously shared allegations of sexual violence and harassment. These reports include incidents of inappropriate behaviour, such as sexual harassment and physical assault.

The findings also revealed that almost half of children under seven are exhibiting signs of misogynistic behaviour, with "misogynistic rhetoric and harmful gender norms" present from as early as nursery age. Furthermore, over 60 per cent of teachers reported that children under nine had been exposed to pornography.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Alarming testimonies

One 12-year-old wrote, "I was 10 years old, walking to school when a car pulled up. Three teenage boys asked me to get in. I wasn’t stupid; I said no, but one of them grabbed my wrist. I wish I could say I fought back, but I was too scared."

Several anonymous accounts highlight the severity of the problem. One testimony described how, at five years old, a child was physically assaulted by another student. "A five-year-old boy started calling me beautiful and sexy. He followed me into the toilets and smashed my head against the sink," the victim wrote.

Despite telling her mother, the school dismissed it as "just playing." The assaults continued, and the boy was never expelled.

Another testimony revealed how, at age 10, a girl was threatened by a group of boys. "A boy told me one of the boys was going to lick my vagina. Another said they’d pay £20 to rape me. I didn’t know what rape meant," she recounted.

When the incident was reported, the headteacher allegedly told her, "As women, we have to accept what men say to us."

The charity behind the website, Everyone’s Invited, has urged for relationship and sex education to start as early as nursery or reception to address the growing issue of sexual violence and harassment.

Founded in 2020 by Soma Sara, a survivor of sexual abuse, the charity is dedicated to challenging rape culture in schools.

A separate report by the National Police Chiefs' Council revealed that child sexual abuse and exploitation had risen by 400 per cent between 2013 and 2024. Alarmingly, more than half of the alleged offenders in these cases were children themselves. The report concluded that rape culture was “endemic” in primary schools.

It emphasised the role of the online world in the increase of violence, saying phones gave children access “to the most extreme content possible with a click of the finger”.

(With inputs from agencies)