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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-56558487

More than 8,000 allegations have now been made by school pupils on a website gathering testimonies of s*xual violence and abuse.

"R**e culture" was a problem for all schools, said Soma Sara, founder of the Everyone's Invited website.

Many of the perpetrators are claimed to be at the same school or in the same social groups.

Norfolk Chief Constable Simon Bailey blamed the "volume of p**nographic material that's being consumed".

"There's an erosion of an understanding of what normal s*xual relationships look like," said the National Police Chiefs' Council lead on child protection.

'Normalising' s*xual violence
"We have a real problem here," he told BBC News, saying that a police helpline would be set up and promising to "investigate those allegations which are of a criminal nature".

Robert Halfon, chairman of the House of Commons education select committee, called for a "full independent inquiry to find out why so many female students have suffered from s*xual abuse and harassment".

Highgate School, among the private schools caught up in the claims, says it is launching an "immediate external review of the s*xual abuse and harassment allegations" and is "working on an anti-s*xism plan".

The website Everyone's Invited was set up last year as a place where victims can post anonymous accounts of abuse they had suffered.

Many of the accounts describe allegations of s*xual harassment and s*xual violence carried out against young women by young men who are at school or college or university with them, or part of the same social groups.

'Universal problem'
"These are stories of r**e culture - so where behaviour that's not normal is normalised," Ms Sara told the BBC.

"S*xual harassment, groping at a Christmas party, image-based abuse, revenge p**n, non-consensual sharing of intimate photos - and just general s*xism and misogyny," she said, describing the experiences being raised.

Ms Sara said "normalising and trivialising" such incidents could create a "gateway to more extreme criminal acts, such as r**e and s*xual assault".

Website exposes 'r**e culture' at schools
S*x abuse claims 'not limited to private schools'
The website initially drew attention to private schools, particularly in London, but the 22-year-old said that was a consequence of her own background - and that the range of testimonies, from state and private schools, showed this was a much wider issue.

"R**e culture is a universal problem - it's everywhere, in all schools, all universities and all of society," she told BBC News.

Anonymous testimonies listed on the site do not reveal the identity of the pupils or their attackers, but many schools are named. Not all of the incidents recounted were on school or university premises.

Police are now asking victims to come forward, and a helpline will be launched by the Department for Education in the next week for those wishing to get support - and potentially report their complaints.

'Call out' behaviour
Chief Constable Bailey warned that po*******hy was distorting how some young people saw relationships - and that this had become a "driver" of the type of behaviour being reported online.

Ms Sara agreed with this, and said the most effective response would be for young people themselves to confront such attitudes.

"It's really important we encourage our children and teenagers to be empowered to stand up to their friends and call out this behaviour, because I think that's the most influential space."

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: "There's got to be an inquiry and it has got to get going very fast, this is serious."

He also called for "cultural change in terms of behaviour in our schools and in our young people, but also in the respect that is shown particularly for women and girls".

The Department for Education said it was very concerned by the allegations posted on Everyone's Invited.

A spokeswoman said: "The vast majority of schools, colleges and universities take their safeguarding responsibilities very seriously, so it is particularly shocking when allegations of abuse are made in connection with a place of education, where everyone should feel secure and be protected.

"Working together, the Department for Education, the Home Office and the National Police Chiefs' Council are in contact with Everyone's Invited to provide support, protection and advice to those who are reporting abuse, including on contacting professionals or the police if they wish."

School abuse: 'R**e culture' warning as 8,000 report incidents Police promise a helpline and will investigate the allegations - and blame po*******hy.

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