Advertisement

School head on rape claim: 'boys will be boys'

The Local/pvs
The Local/pvs - [email protected]
School head on rape claim: 'boys will be boys'

A high school in Täby in northern Stockholm has been reported to the Equality Ombudsman over allegations that the principal played down rape allegations as "stuff that boys do".

Advertisement

After having been encouraged by a classmate, a female student went to the principal of the high school to report that she had been raped by another male student in February and March 2011.

The student reported the school to the Schools Inspectorate (Skolinspektionen), which has now forwarded the complaint to the Equality Ombudsmannen (Diskrimineringsombudsmannen - DO).

According to the complaint filed with the Schools Inspectorate, the student was told by the principal:

"You file a police report if you want, although this is not a prioritized case as no serious crime has been committed."

The principal then told the student, who was accompanied by another member of staff at the time:

"Guys do this kind of thing, you have to get used to it."

According to the report, when the girl's mother called the principal to discuss her comments, the principal told her that her daughter "should concentrate on her studies" and "to stop focusing on these trivialities".

The girl eventually stopped attending school as she felt she had not received support from the teachers or the principal despite having filed a police report alleging rape and attempted rape in March 2011.

The girl alleges that from that time until the break for the summer holidays, she was subjected to periodical harassment from fellow students and some individual teachers at the school.

The girl has now changed to another school in the county.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also