Gymnasieelevers utsatthet för sexuella övergrepp : En kvalitativ studie kring skolkuratorernas arbete med elever som utsatts för sexuella övergrepp

Sexual abuse is a global issue that can result in psychosocial consequences for the on that has been abused. Statistics show that girls and boys in high school age are among the group that are most vulnerable to sexual abuse and studies shows that high school counselors have or should have resources that can help students that has been abused. The purpose of this study is, through interviews study the work of high school counselors regarding students that have been sexually abused but also how they work to prevent sexual abuse. We also wanted to investigate if there are any differences in the mode of work depending on gender. Our study is based on interviews of six high school counselors that we interviewed in person at their work place. To analyze our data, we took help from previous research on the subject but also theories about action space, sexuality and gender. Our result shows that the high school counselors work in different ways to help students that have been sexually abused but there are no specific guidelines on how the high school counselors are supposed to work to prevent sexual abuse and deal with students that have been abused. Their main job is to be a support system for the student if she or he need to talk to somebody and guide the student through the process of pressing chargers or contacting different authorities. It became evident in our study that prevention and the way of dealing with sexual abuse needs to improve in the high school counselors’ work, which most of the school counselors said themselves. None of the counselors said that they work differently based on the student´s gender but half of them used the word boy when describing the perpetrator and girl when describing the victim. With the help of our theory we could see that there is a perception in society where the male gender is often seen as the perpetrator and that this perception affects how high school counselors see and talk about sexual abuse. This perception makes it also more difficult for boys to talk about sexual abuse and also realize when they have been victims of sexual abuse.