Sexual harassment can involve any unwanted physical contact. It can also include exposing body parts, requesting sexual favours, showing graphic images, and making inappropriate comments and jokes. Once someone is bothering you in a sexual way, physically or verbally, such as touching someone in a sexual way or making unwelcome comments about someone’s appearance, that is sexual harassment.
Much of the harassment in school probably comes from your peers. However, in some cases, the offending behaviour has come from adults, such as teachers.
What Can You Do?
How, then, should you react if someone bothers you in this way? Sometimes a weak or vague response only makes a harasser try harder. Being firm and direct is still the best way to fend off harassment. Sometimes, the one bothering you might not mean to offend you. What looks like harassment may actually be a poor attempt to attract your attention. So do not feel that you have to be very wild to halt an unwanted advance. However, do not water down your message. If the situation escalates, do not try to handle things alone. Try talking it over with your parents or other mature adults. They may have some practical suggestions for dealing with the situation. As a last resort, they may even feel it necessary to alert school officials.
Choice of Friends
Your choice of friends also affects how you are treated. When some of the girls in a group like the attention of guys, the guys may assume that all the girls in the group feel the same way. If you hang around with ones who give in to the remarks or who enjoy the attention, then you will get harassed too.
Being strict about how you dress, how you speak, and with whom you associate can do much to protect you from harassment
