Harry Potter character is model for calling out sexual harassment, school head says

‘We need to step away from the Death Eaters,’ James Handscombe tells pupils

James Handscombe is the principal of Harris Westminster Sixth Form (Harris Westminster Sixth Form)

The head of a London school has told pupils to be more like Harry Potter character Neville Longbottom and call out friends in the wake of evidence of a “rape culture” in schools and universities across the country.

In an assembly to students, James Handscombe, the principal of Harris Westminster Sixth Form, said “scrupulous thinking” was vital amid the school sexual harassment scandal and that meant “standing up to your friends when they behave in a way you’d rail against from your enemies”.

Mr Handscombe recited a passage from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in which Neville stands up to Harry, Hermione and Ron when they tried to sneak out of the Gryffindor common room.

After quoting Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore, the principal said: “We need to stand up to our friends. We need to call them out.

“We need to say that there are some behaviours that are incompatible with our friendship. We need to step away from the Death Eaters.”

Mr Handscombe, who has previously quoted Taylor Swift in assemblies, said what has happened at Harris Westminster was not as bad as what has been reported in other schools.

But he said he had had “uncomfortable conversations” with pupils about how “we’ve allowed harassment, assault, unpleasantness to take place”.

“How can we make it clear that touching each other’s thighs without clear invitation is the action of a jerk; how can we have the courage to tell a friend that what they just said was inappropriate and out of line; how can we make sure that when somebody does that they’re supported by those around and not dismissed; how can we enable those who are attacked to tell someone and feel sure they’ll be taken seriously?” he said.

Mr Handscombe’s assembly came amid tens of thousands of allegations of sexual violence and abuse at schools and universities.

The Everyone’s Invited website has collected almost 16,000 testimonies and its founder, Soma Sara, has said “rape culture” was a problem for all schools.

A review into sexual abuse in schools has been announced by the Department for Education, with Ofsted examining “the extent and the severity of the issue”.

Gavin Williamson, the education secretary, said in March that “appropriate action” would be taken to respond to reports of sexual abuse.

“No school – whether an independent school or state school – should ever be an environment where young people feel unsafe, let alone somewhere that sexual abuse can take place,” he wrote on Twitter.

“The allegations that I have heard in recent days are shocking and abhorrent.”