Introduction

There is an increasing focus on sexual violence in higher education in the UK. A growing body of research suggests that experiences of sexual harassment and violence are widespread in university communities (Phipps and Young, 2013). Recent research also suggests that institutional knowledge and action to tackle sexual harassment and violence (often described as ‘lad culture’) is sparse, with most universityled initiatives adopting a reactive and, often, punitive approach (Jackson and Sundaram, 2015). Violence prevention initiatives in higher education are not yet well-developed. However, increasing attention is being given to how to ‘tackle’ or ‘challenge’ sexual harassment and violence in universities.

In 2016, the UK Women's and Equalities Committee launched an enquiry into sexual harassment in schools. The final enquiry report noted the prevalence of various forms of sexual violence in schools, including unwanted sexual touching, sexual name-calling and sexual violence in teenage partner relationships (WEC, 2016). A major recommendation of the report, which was based on quantitative and qualitative research from a range of expert organisations and individuals, was that in order to tackle ‘lad culture’ in universities more work must be done to understand and prevent gender based violence (GBV) earlier in the educational life course.

This chapter therefore discusses research on secondary school pupils’ views and experiences of gender based harassment and violence, in order to improve our understanding of how such practices arise and become entrenched. In particular, the research focuses on the ways in which young people talk about the acceptability of violence in different situations. A number of studies have noted that young people have high levels of tolerance in relation to various forms of GBV (Burton et al, 1998; Prospero, 2006; Barter et al, 2009, 2015; McCarry, 2010) but few have analysed why these views are held.I will argue that, in terms of developing violence prevention in schools and in universities, it is crucial to understand the nuances, contradictions and complexities in young people's views on violence. My work on this (Sundaram, 2013, 2014a, 2014b) suggests that young people's views exist on a continuum of acceptability and that binary positions on violence are rarely adopted. The positions young people take up along this continuum are fundamentally shaped by their understandings of normal and appropriate gender behaviour.