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This article claims that experts told UK MP's that sexual harassment is increasing in schools because of internet pornography. However, I haven't seen any references to studies done on the subject so I'd like to see where the facts stand.

Note that while this question is aimed at the UK, an answer could reasonably be supported by evidence from other countries.

The article says:

Experts told the Women and Equalities Committee that online pornography had led to increased acceptance of sexual violence and harassment towards women. A "normalised culture of sexual harassment" in England's schools meant girls were changing their behaviours, rather than boys being challenged. And change would come only with a shift in attitude among the wider population.

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  • 1
    It'd be interesting to see the minutes/transcript to see what the experts actually said to see if their claims had been correctly reported.
    – Oddthinking ♦
    Jun 8, 2016 at 9:00
  • 7
    I've just listened to the whole thing and the only statistics they mention is the number of children that have their own devices. Everything else is anecdote, which emphasises the need for quantification.
    – PointlessSpike
    Jun 8, 2016 at 10:29
  • 4
    I doubt we know. Sexual harassment is hard to define in any rigorous way, and allegations are hard to resolve because its generally just one word against another. If you are looking at change over time then you also have the problem of shifting mores. Whistling at pretty girls used to be acceptable behaviour, so nobody would bother complaining, and even if they did nothing would be recorded. These days its considered to be sexual harassment. So how do you compare figures for the past with figures for the present?
    – Paul Johnson
    Jun 11, 2016 at 8:19
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    Important to keep in mind that an increase in reports does not equal an increase in actual cases -- it could just be that there is better support infrastructure now so more people are confident enough to speak up, or less people are willing to dismiss the accusations before they get into a police report, etc.
    – Shadur
    Nov 2, 2017 at 17:26
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    @PointlessSpike rapes usually aren't reported. I have personally spoken to four different rape survivors, of whom only one offically reported the rape (which she later regretted due to her treatment), and I know of two other rape survivors who also did not make an official report. Still, looking at rather there is an increase in rape reports could help. An increase in rape reports would not definitively prove an increase in rapes, but a lack of increase would be a strong indicator that rapes have not increased since rape survivors are more likely to report now then in the past.
    – dsollen
    Nov 7, 2017 at 16:17

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