Effectiveness Study of the Intervention "Stop Sexual Harassment" in Secondary School

Summary

"Stop sexual harassment" is a school based intervention tailored to reduce sexual- and gendered harassment among pupils in secondary school. The first aim of this study is to test to what extent "Stop sexual harassment" reduces sexual harassment and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender expression (gendered harassment) among 8th to 10th grade pupils in secondary school. The second aim of the study is to test to what extent the intervention increases teachers' responses to sexual- and gendered harassment among pupils. The intervention consists of eight lessons which address the prevention of sexual- and gendered harassment.

METHOD: A minimum 32 schools with at least 3840 pupils will participate in a cluster randomized controlled trial. Participating schools will be randomly assigned to intervention schools and control schools. At the intervention schools, teachers will be introduced to "Stop sexual harassment" through a digital course which will provide them with a manual containing eight lessons to be held for the pupils. At the control schools there will not be any intervention. The effects of the intervention on pupils will be determined by assessing their experiences with sexual and gendered harassment, and internalized and externalized problems prior to the intervention (T1), shortly after the intervention (T2) and six moths after the intervention (T3). The effects of the intervention on teachers will be determined by assessing the teachers' experiences of responding to sexual and gendered harassment among pupils.

HYPOTHESIS: It is expected that the intervention "Stop sexual harassment" will lead to reduced sexual and gendered harassment perpetration and victimization, and less internalized and externalized problems among the pupils in secondary school, and that teachers will more frequently take action when sexual- and gendered harassment is encountered among the pupils.

Conditions

• Sexual Harassment
• Anti-Gay Bias
• Non Sexual Harassment
• Gender-based Violence
• Gender Bias
• Bullying
• Aggression
• Depressive Symptoms
• Anxiety
• Mental Health

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Stop sexual harassment

Teachers will be introduced to a digital course on the prevention of sexual- and gendered harassment. In the course they will provided with a manual containing eight lessons to be held for the pupils. Each lesson will last 45 minutes and consist of a short lecture and practical activities for the pupils.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Bergen

  collaborator OTHER

• Boston College

  collaborator OTHER

• Norwegian Council for Mental Health

  collaborator OTHER

• The Dam Foundation

  collaborator OTHER

• NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Hilde Slaatten, Ph.D · NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

12 Years

Max Age

16 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-04-13

Primary Completion

2022-05-30

Completion

2023-06-30

Countries

• Norway

Study Locations