Sexual harassment and
violence is an epidemic that starts young. About
seven in 10 girls will experience sexual harassment at some point in high
school, and one in four girls will
experience sexual violence before she turns 18. This behavior leaves a
lasting impact on young people, particularly girls, affecting their physical and
mental health as well as their ability to stay — and do well — in school.
Each May, Girls Inc.
highlights an important issue impacting the lives of girls during national
Girls Inc. Week. This year, we focused on the roles each of us plays in
responding to and preventing sexual harassment. Through the #GirlsToo:
Respect Starts Young campaign , Girls Inc. is building a national movement to end sexual
harassment and violence by shifting the deeply entrenched norms that fuel these
behaviors. Locally, we encourage people in our community to #BeUpstanding with
the goal of empowering everyday individuals to be a part of the solution.
Consider these scenarios.
You notice a couple fighting outside a store on State Street or in Shoreline
Park. As you walk by you hear one person say to the other, “Why do you have to
be so stupid? You are so worthless!” You then see the other person walk away in
tears. Or, you overhear a colleague or classmate comment on a sexual assault making
headlines saying, “She got what was coming to her.” What do you do? Are you a
bystander who does nothing, or do you become an upstander?