SNP Education Secretary under pressure over sex harassment

It found that, overall, a significant majority of young people reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment at or on the way to school within the past three months. This included 65% who had experienced visual/verbal incidents (sexual jokes, for example). Thirty-four per cent had experienced a personally invasive behaviour that involved contact such as sexual touching.

The research argues that pupil judgements about whether behaviour is acceptable or not are often nuanced, uncertain and ambiguous, and highlights dangers inherent in the normalisation of “lower level” incidents such as sexual jokes. This, it suggests, sows the seeds for more serious, coercive or aberrant conduct.

READ MORE: Scottish schools risk becoming 'rape culture' breeding grounds

Researchers also say developing strategies that deal with the issue’s complexity will be essential.

Their report states: “School-based interventions should recognise this by adopting an approach which not only aims to increase knowledge of sexual harassment, but also includes active learning, including discussions around, and challenges to, the factors underpinning young people’s decisions on whether or not behaviours are acceptable, perhaps based on some of the ideas and statements included in our data.

“They should also aim to develop understandings of how ‘more serious’, coercive and/or aberrant behaviours increase when ‘less serious’ behaviours are perceived as normal and acceptable, so feeding into ‘rape culture’. In doing so, such interventions may expand the numbers, types and/or levels of behaviours understood as sexual harassment and disrupt its normalisation, thus impacting both attitudes and perceived peer norms.”

Parent leaders want to see urgent action to address high rates of sexual harassment.

Ms Somerville insisted the Scottish Government was progressing a number of actions to tackle gender-based violence and sexual harassment.

But Eileen Prior, executive director of parents’ organisation Connect, branded the report “damning” and called for “urgency”. She said: “Shared approaches by schools and families are essential to ensure consistency of messaging for young people.

“Open discussion must be at the heart of this: behaving respectfully to others, stopping the so-called ‘banter’, understanding the serious impact of sexual harassment on others and adopting approaches similar to those used to tackle bullying behaviour will help to address this epidemic.

“However, there needs to be a sense of urgency at the highest level in Scottish Government and Education Scotland - school staff need fit-for-purpose resources and support to deliver lessons on sexual harassment and they need these now.”

Hannah Brisbane, lead volunteer for voice at Girlguiding Scotland, also expressed concern. She said: "This new study highlights that schools are not doing enough to tackle this issue due to a lack of awareness and understanding of the problem. Very little is improving for girls, therefore serious action is needed now without delay.

"Our Girls In Scotland research shows a third of girls and young women aged 13-25 have experienced sexual harassment in their local community and one in five said they experienced this while at school, college or university. These numbers are very worrying and here at Girlguiding Scotland we want adequate and accessible reporting processes for pupils so that schools can be held accountable when this behaviour occurs.

"Our research also shows that almost 80% of girls said they learned little or nothing about consent during sex education, so another important course of action that has to be taken is there needs to be better sex education for young people, especially for boys and young men."

READ MORE: Pupils 'risk becoming repeat targets for sexual harassment'

Ms Brisbane added: "We want to see improvements made to relationships, sexual health and parenthood education with a strong emphasis on the importance of consent, what sexual harassment looks like and what victims can do if they’re experiencing it.”

Ms Somerville said: “Let me be clear, there is absolutely no place for harassment or abuse of any form - whether in the workplace, schools, in the home or in society.

"We are determined to ensure children receive high-quality relationships, sexual health and parenthood education in schools as an integral part of the health and wellbeing of the school curriculum in Scotland.

“We also continue to take forward a range of actions in schools to address gender based violence and sexual harassment and we remain committed to developing national guidance for schools to help tackle sexual harassment and and gender-based violence.”