Sir, - Having been involved for the past decade in providing training to prevent and deal with sexual harassment in the workplace, we read with interest the account of the survey carried out by ASTI into the incidence of this problem in schools.
We are aware of the devastating impact that sexual harassment can have on the individual, and are trying to have this issue addressed with the seriousness it deserves. In the past year we have been focusing particularly on training within schools to help them to tackle this issue and to put a policy and procedures in place to deal with it.
We were therefore surprised to see your correspondent refer to "only 9 per cent of the teachers questioned" having been sexually harassed. This is in fact a very high figure, meaning that at least 54 teachers surveyed had experienced sexual harassment. Widened out to the membership of ASTI, we are talking about over 1,400 individuals. The level of stress for those experiencing sexual harassment can be extreme, very damaging and long-term.
In spite of the seriousness of the problem, only 9 per cent of schools had a policy to address the needs of teachers concerning harassment. It is essential that schools and the Department of Education tackle this issue urgently, assuming their legal responsibilities which have been outlined in the Labour Court, the High Court and in the Employment Equality Act. - Yours, etc., Angela McCarthy and Leonie O'Dowd,
Education and Training Department, Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Dublin 2.