A campaign to promote awareness and inspire action to counteract pervasive sexual harassment and sexual violence in K-12 schools. Read more about the movement here.
As #MeTooK12 Turns 4, Students Can't Wait for Adults to Make Change
by Esther Warkov, Executive Director, Stop Sexual Assault in Schools
This January marks the fourth anniversary of #MeTooK12, a campaign spotlighting widespread sexual harassment and assault millions of students experience each year. Read more >Combating rampant K-12 sexual harassment and assault
by Esther Warkov, Executive Director, Stop Sexual Assault in Schools
#MeTooK12 is a social media hashtag created by the national nonprofit Stop Sexual Assault in Schools (SSAIS.org).Read more >
Parents: You Can Become the Agent of Change for Title IX Policies in Your Schools
by Susan Moen, Executive Director, Jackson County (OR) SART
Most parents are not aware of deficiencies in their schools’ response protocols for sexual harassment and assault–until their own child (or a friend’s) experiences the life-altering harm that can result.
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What adults can do about K-12 sexual harassment and assault
Watch video by civil rights attorney Jeffrey Caffee.
Prevent retaliation when reporting K-12 sexual harassment
Watch video by civil rights attorney Iliana Konidaris.
Three Pivot Points for the #MeToo Movement
by Julie Stern, content lead for American Federation of Teacher's Share My Lesson and eLearning platform.
Last year marked an important moment for women’s rights and brought sexual harassment to the forefront of the news cycle. Time magazine’s Person of the Year was a collection of women who were honored for being “the silence breakers.” A new hashtag of #MeTooK12 emerged to shine a light on the issues facing students and staff in schools.
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#MeTooK12: Centering Young Students in the Fight to End Sexual Violence
by Sabrina Stevens, Senior Digital and Mobilization Manager, National Women's Law Center
A few weeks ago, when #MeToo was first beginning to spread online, I was chatting on a friend’s Facebook wall after she wrote a piece asking whether schools should teach boys to respect girls.
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Action Plan
- Spread #MeTooK12.
- Share the toolkit to end sexual harassment.
- Watch Sexual Harassment: Not in Our School!
- Implement the Action Guide.
- Involve the school community, media, and lawmakers.
- Form or join a SASH Club
- Contact SSAIS to get involved.
A #MeTooK12 Case Study: Sexual Abuse Scandal at a Catholic High School
by Kathryn Leehane, author, writer, and victim advocate
In October 2017, I wrote an OpEd for the Washington Post about the sexual abuse I endured at my private, Catholic high school and how it was mishandled by the administration. Though I didn’t disclose any names, dozens of people recognized the teacher and came forward with their own stories of mishandled abuse at the same school—by the same teacher and other instructors. I had inadvertently exposed the decades-long sexual abuse scandal.
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#MeTooK12: How can we end sexual assault in schools?
by Beth Hoover, Communications Manager and Violence Prevention Trainer at Power Up, Speak Out! and Domestic and Sexual Violence Services, Red Lodge, Montana.
For too long, survivors have heard that if “something” happened to them – like sexual harassment or assault – it was probably their fault. With the avalanche of survivors coming forward, we’ve started to hear different narratives in media outlets that give educators and advocates hope for change. This hope is largely due to the hashtags #MeToo and #MeTooK12.
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Exposing a Sexual Abuse Scandal at a Private School
by Kathryn Leehane, author, writer, and victim advocate
After the sexual abuse I endured in high school and how it was mishandled by school administrators, I wrote an OpEd for the Washington Post in October, 2017. Though I didn’t disclose any names or locations, dozens of people figured out what teacher I was talking about and came forward with their own stories of mishandled abuse.
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The Civil Rights Lawsuit Against Betsy DeVos’s High School Alma Mater: What It Means For Every Student
by Esther Warkov, Executive Director, Stop Sexual Assault in Schools
There are phone calls a parent never wants to get. We received one such call, informing us that our daughter had been raped on a school field trip.
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From survivor to advocate: demanding change in the Portland, OR, school district
by Annabelle Schwartz
[See Annabelle's activism online: Oregon Live, KATU-TV, Planned Parenthood video]
My name is Annabelle Schwartz, I am 18 years old, an activist, and a survivor of a peer sexual assault. It took me a long time after my initial experience to realize what had happened...
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