CURRENT and former students at dozens of schools across Oxfordshire are speaking out about harrowing incidents of rape, sexual assault, abuse and violence they have endured.
A total of 45 schools from across the county have been named in anonymous accounts from sexual assault survivors, who detailed the abuse they experienced on the Everyone's Invited website.
The site, which launched in March, was set up by Soma Sara. Anyone can share their experience in school corridors in Oxfordshire and the rest of the UK.
As pupils were urged to share their stories of assault and harassment, testimonies, which often named the school or college where the alleged abusers attended, piled high.
The Oxford Mail sifted through more than 50,000 testimonies to discover those relating to Oxfordshire, many of which allegedly took place at prestigious private institutions.
The array of allegations is vast – from rapes at house parties, stealthing (deliberately removing a condom during sex without your partner's knowledge) and coercion, to sexual harassment and assault on public transport.
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While most of the accounts detailed abuse between classmates, some called out teachers.
One testimony made by a pupil at Headington School read: "A teacher at my all-girls school said 'your essays need to be like your skirts, long enough to cover the essentials but short enough to keep us interested'.
"Everyone was really uncomfortable but when we told another teacher she laughed and said it was just a joke and the incident never got investigated."
Caroline Jordan, headmistress at Headington School, said that the testimonies on Everyone’s Invited shine a light on how important it is to educate young people about healthy relationships and to create a culture of mutual respect.
She added that the school provides regular training for staff alongside their PSHE programme to ensure they recognise the 'part they have to play' in ensuring all pupils feel safe, protected and able to recognise and challenge unacceptable behaviour.
Another student at Magdalen College School in Cowley wrote: "I was raped by someone at the same school.
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"There were no support systems in place and the perpetrator never faced any consequences.
"The older boys often preyed on and sexually abused the younger girls.
"Everyone was aware of the culture, including teachers, but no one ever said anything."
Another student from another county school revealed she experienced a number of male teachers looking up her skirt, which has made her 'too scared' to walk up the school stairs without holding down the hem.
A spokesperson for the school said they assessed the comment and believe it is in relation 'to a request for the skirt uniform to be of a certain length' as part of their dress code and uniform policy.
Incidents described on Everyone's Invited often took place outside of school premises, at parties or other social gatherings.
However, there are a significant number which detail harassment and assault in school settings or the sharing of nude images between classmates.
A testimonial about pupils at Radley College, the prestigious boarding school for boys in Abingdon, read: "A group of boys group chat was called 'Therapists'.
"I naively did not realise they thought it was funny as it meant 'the rapists' until after I found out.
"The name was not inaccurate."
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