Young People in Scotland Survey 2021: attitudes to violence against women and girls

Conclusion

This report examined Scottish state secondary school pupils' attitudes towards a range of scenarios which described VAWG behaviours gathered in the YPIS between February and April 2021. The same questions on attitudes towards VAWG were included in the 2014 iteration of the survey, allowing for the identification of how young people's attitudes have changed over time.

The results show that pupils' attitudes have changed significantly over the seven years between 2014 and 2021. There has been a notable increase in the proportion of pupils viewing the described behaviours as 'wrong' and 'harmful' for most VAWG scenarios presented, except for scenarios describing commercial sexual exploitation (watching pornography and visiting a strip club). For most scenarios, the increase is driven by a greater shift in attitudes among girls rather than boys. Moreover, for all scenarios girls were much more likely to view the behaviour as 'wrong' compared to boys.

Scenarios relating to sexual harassment and stalking were most likely to be viewed as being 'wrong' and 'harmful' by pupils in 2021 and 2014. Specifically, the scenario on sharing naked images of an ex-partner online without her consent was most likely to be viewed as 'wrong' and 'harmful' in both years. In comparison, scenarios on commercial sexual exploitation were least likely to be viewed as 'wrong' in both years. In 2021, the scenario describing an adult man watching pornography at home was least likely to be viewed as 'wrong' by pupils, while in 2014 the scenario least likely to be viewed as 'wrong' described a group of men visiting a strip club.

The results also point to a significant decrease in gender stereotyping over time. Both girls and boys were more likely to say that they would buy a toy doll for a boy or a toy truck for a girl without saying anything compared to 2014. The proportion of girls and boys who said they would not buy the toy also decreased between 2014 and 2021. In both 2014 and 2021, girls were less likely to reinforce the gender stereotype and were more accepting of buying a toy doll for a young boy compared to their male peers.

Taken together, these results point to significant attitudinal changes over time. Younger people are increasingly viewing VAWG as wrong and harmful, and are increasingly less likely to reinforce gender stereotypes.