Sexual Harassment of Primary School Students by Teachers: A Field Study in Erbil City

Rezan Khattab Ali

doi:10.21271/zjhs.29.6.15

توێژەران

Rezan Khattab Ali Department of Social Work, College of Arts, Salahaddin University-Erbil, Kurdistan Region,Iraq

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https://doi.org/10.21271/zjhs.29.6.15

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Sexual harassment, Online harassment, Primary school administration, Child well-being, School reporting system

پوختە

Reporting sexual harassment against students is influenced by several complex and interrelated factors, including child characteristics, family support, school response, and prevailing social and cultural attitudes. In Erbil city, within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, public primary schools often do not report cases of sexual harassment perpetrated by teachers against female students, for reasons that remain unclear. The objective of this study is to explore the types of sexual harassment committed by primary school teachers against their female students and to identify the factors contributing to the lack of formal reporting of such incidents. This qualitative study examines 31 cases of sexual harassment involving primary school female students and their male teachers in Erbil city. A purposive sampling method was employed, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews with individuals who had witnessed or possessed detailed knowledge of the incidents. The findings reveal that the main barriers to reporting sexual harassment cases include the absence of a clear and unified formal system for reporting such incidents to educational authorities, as well as fear of adverse community and socio-cultural responses. School administrations and many parents of the affected students preferred to address the incidents internally to protect the reputation of both the students and the school.

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