Female teachers, as well as students, are victims of sexist and misogynist behaviour from some boys in some schools, a union has warned.

NASUWT general secretary Patrick Roach said today that female teachers were the victims of “so-called banter”  as well as sexist name-calling, and were being spoken about in “derogatory terms” both in class and online.

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He said: “Misogyny and sexism are all too real and all too apparent whether it’s on the streets …or whether it’s in our schools.

“And [the question is] whether female teachers and female students can feel that they are safe to walk along the [school] corridors without having to think about how they’re dressed, or [having to think about] whether they’re walking alone, and how they’re going to be treated by pupils or, indeed, their own colleagues and parents as well.”

Dr Roach was speaking to reporters at the union’s annual conference being held online this weekend.

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He was asked whether the problem of teachers being sexually harassed was part of the same problem of girls being sexually harassed by boys in schools - as has been reported in thousands of testimonies to the Everyone’s Invited website in recent weeks.

He said: “It disappoints me and concerns me but it doesn’t surprise me that if teachers are subject to sexist and misogynist behaviour by some pupils within a school context, that may also be impacting on female students as well, and vice versa. 

“So what we have to have is a culture and ethos in schools and a recognition that this is happening and a will to do something about it.”

He added: “We’re seeing… the belittling of teachers because of their sex or gender.

“We’re seeing this also with regards to our female trans members who are particularly experiencing problems around discriminatory behaviour and unacceptable comments”.

Dr Roach also said there were problems of “up-skirting” and “down-blousing” in schools as well as “inappropriate touching”.

He added: “We feel that’s representing to some degree, the tip of the iceberg. It is very concerning.”

Dr Roach said he didn’t want to “demonise boys” but he added: “There is definitely a situation where some boys are engaging in practices which are frankly not acceptable. And it’s also the case that some schools are not doing enough to counteract that.”