Abstract:

Sexual harassment poses a danger to the physical and emotional welfare of affected girl learners, impacting their academic performance and hindering their ability to achieve as expected. Subsequently, it becomes a barrier to learning for the girls who are exposed to the scourge. The study investigated the impact of sexual harassment towards learning in secondary schools in South Africa. The study used mixed methods with the administration of the Sexual Experiences Survey which is a self-declaration questionnaire to girl learners and conducting interviews for gathering data from designated district officials. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 19 computer programme (SPSS) as well as interpretative analysis in order to provide detailed examinations of personal lived experiences. The results from the Sexual Experiences Survey revealed that the majority of learners who participated were affected by sexual harassment directly or indirectly. Whilst the interviews revealed that their wellbeing was adversely affected. The wellbeing is a contributing factor to lack of concentration, stress, depression, absenteeism, fear and bunking school amongst other things. The study recommends that affected girl learners be provided with counselling and medical assistance. A comprehensive study be instituted in an in-depth manner to understand the depth of scars on the victims and how they affect their learning process. The conclusion was that sexual harassment is one of the contributing factors to girls’ learning as such it is a barrier.

Keywords:

Sexual harassment, barrier, learning, academic performance, wellbeing.