Beating Around the Bush – Swedish Schoolgirls’ Coping Strategies and Impact Processes of Sexual Harassment

The aim of this study is to contribute knowledge about Swedish school girls’ perspectives of sexual harassment and their relations to peers when exposed to violence in terms of sexual harassment, both online and offline. The empirical data was collected through pair interviews where 28 girls participated. The theoretical framework was based on coping strategies that people use when facing stressful situations. The transcribed empirical data was read and interpreted based on what appeared to be important and decisive related to the theoretical framework. The found strategies are divided into three main categories, namely, problem-focused behavioural strategies, emotion-focused cognitive strategies, and emotion-focused behavioural strategies. The results show that the girls use different strategies depending on if the harassment occurs online or offline and if the perpetrator is known or unknown. Problem-focused cognitive strategies are used due to the specific context. Emotion-focused cognitive strategies are foremost used if the perpetrator is a known friend.


Introduction
The aim of this study is to contribute knowledge about Swedish school girls' perspectives of sexual harassment and their relations to peers when exposed to violence in terms of sexual harassment, both online and offline. The concept 'sexual harassment' has different political and theoretical basis, which also vary over time, nationally, legally and even in practice in several ways (Swedish Research Council, 2018). In and non-verbal sexual harassment are frequent (Gillander Gådin, 2012). Most of the girls that are exposed to offline or online sexual harassment experience a decreased well-being and reduced security. Both bystanders and those who are actively exposed feel a negative impact. Sleep difficulties, lack of focus on schoolwork, increased school absence, and symptoms of depression are some examples of consequences when sexual harassment becomes normal in everyday practice (Hill & Kearl, 2011;Gillander Gådin et al., 2013;Zetterström Dahlqvist 2016;Plan International, 2020). The level of discomfort experienced is also related to social support. Young people with a sense of safe group belonging feel less discomfort when exposed to harassment, than one who does not have this safety (Mitchell et al., 2013;Eek-Karlsson 2019;Ståhl & Dennhag, 2021). In connection to unsolicited dickpics and discomfort, Ashley Gore (2018) highlights that the transmission of dickpics in social media and mobile phones manifests structural practices expressing misogynistic attitudes. In alignment with this, Amundsen (2020) concludes that women exposed to dickpics online express a failure to respond to social structures that allow men to harass women in this way.
Research shows that there is insufficient knowledge among adults in school in how to understand and act concerning sexual harassment, which in Sweden can be a result of the vague definition in the Discrimination Act (SFS 2008:567). Acts of sexual harassment are often taken for granted, both by pupils and teachers. As a result, the threshold for what is considered as harassment is raised, which in turn leads to a normalisation of the harassing acts (Hill & Kearl, 2011;Gillander Gådin & Stein, 2019). There is also a tendency to talk about the harassment as sexual romance and as a way for boys to show their feelings. As a consequence, the structural pattern is overlooked. The risk of objectifying the girl who is exposed is also imminent (Hill & Kearl, 2011;Gillander Gådin et al., 2013;Gillander Gådin & Stein 2019). In a study conducted by Johnson & Johnson (2021), it appears that a culture that tolerates sexist attitudes, catcalling, etc., also supports or excuses significantly more serious behaviours (e.g., victim blaming and shaming, drugging and finally rape), and because of this trend, it is important to limit the harassing acts as early as possible. Another study shows that teachers who focus on creating personal and trustful relationships with their pupils are crucial for the exposed girls (Eek-Karlsson et al., 2022).
Youth experiences often lack consequences for those who subject peers to sexual harassment and acts not accepted outside the school context are accepted inside the school (Gillander Gådin et al., 2013). One strategy for managing sexual harassment is by expressing that it is nothing to care about or by considering it as only a joke (Hill & Kearl, 2011). Concerning online harassment, Scarduzio et al., (2018) show that the girls in their study used different coping strategies to make sense of the online situation. They used both problem-focused strategies (e.g., changing online behaviour, blocking, confronting) and emotion-focused strategies (e.g., support, blaming others, normalisation). Another strategy is to adopt a sense of humour to cope with online sexual harassment (Vitis & Gilmour, 2018). Nevertheless, though there is research conducted about sexual harassment in school and in social media, it appears that there is need for more knowledge, especially by taking a holistic approach to girls' everyday life with both online and offline contexts in mind and with attention to coping strategies. There is also a lack of knowledge about young girls' own understanding of their impact on conditions to prevent sexual harassment.

Theoretical Framework
When people face stressful situations (for example, being exposed to sexual harassment or violence in close relationships) a feeling of being overwhelmed may occur, which can take the form of feeling harm or a threat or a challenge (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, 1987Schuler, 1985). In order to manage these situations, often different coping strategies are developed, playing an important role in the perception of psychological well-being (Parsons et al., 1996). Coping is a process in which a person deals with stress by using a wide range of psychological strategies and mechanisms to reduce, control or tolerate the stressor (Parker & Endler, 1992). The concept 'coping' can be understood as a "transactional process between an individual and the environment and begins with an individual's cognitive appraisal of a person-situation encounter" (Fugate & Kinicki, 2008, p. 2). The concept can also be defined as "realistic and flexible thoughts and acts that solve problems and thereby reduce stress" (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, p. 118). In other words, coping is an active or passive attempt to respond to a threatening situation to remove the threat or reduce the discomfort (Dewe, 1987).
Coping can be cognitive (e.g., mental strategies and/or self-talk) or behavioural (acting or doing something), which involves more observable bodily actions (Latack & Havlovic, 1992). Regarding cognitive processes, Hutchins (2010) highlights that cognition is not merely an internal operation, instead the "understanding of cognitive phenomena must include a consideration of the environments in which cognitive processes develop and operate." (p. 706). This mutual dependence between cognition and the context is conceptualised as 'the cognitive ecology/ecosystem'. The cognitive outcomes are often the product of interactions between individuals and the social world (ibid). Related to this study, the intention is to find out how the girls manage their everyday life, both offline and online, to cope with stressful situations related to sexual harassment. Both coping strategies described above serve two major functions; one is focused on the objective problem, while the other one targets the person's emotions. The first strategy, named problem-focused coping, focuses on the management of the problem that is causing the stress, by directly changing the elements of the stressful situation: either you can attack the problem or flee from it. It is concrete and goal-oriented and includes strategies for gathering information, making decisions, planning and solving conflicts or taking care of problems that hinder the goals and cause stress. Further possibilities are to lower the level of ambition or to learn new ways of behaviour. This strategy is useful when the person considers that there is a possibility to 'solve' the situation (Coyne et al., 1981;Lazarus & Folkman, 1984;1987). Related to sexual harassment, a problem-focused coping strategy could be to confront the harassing peers, tell the teacher or openly discuss the problem in the classroom. The second strategy regulates emotions or distresses that come with a stressful situation, so-called emotion-focused coping. It is used to modify a person's own experience of the situation and to reduce the tension, physiological activity and emotional reaction. This strategy implies a change of the experience instead of the problem/situation itself and is used when a person is facing dilemmas that are experienced as unchangeable. To reduce the threat, one can re-evaluate the situation, for example, by telling oneself that things could have been worse, ignoring the situation, withdrawing, blaming oneself, avoiding one's emotions or seeking social support (Coyne et al., 1981;Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, 1987. Uncovering the girls handling of sexual harassment, the intention is to explore in what ways girls might impact processes of sexual harassment.

Method
In the section below, the data processing, ethical considerations and the analysis process are described.

Data Processing
This study is part of a larger project with an overall aim to contribute knowledge about how boys and girls at different ages talk about and understand sexual harassment. The research project has been approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority. The empirical data was collected through semi-structured pair interviews in school year 5, 6, 8, in compulsory school and in school year 1 and 3 in upper secondary school 2 . Our intention was not to compare the data from the two schools, instead we wanted to capture a variety of perspectives of sexual harassment among girls. The data in the present study, consists of the girls' opinions concerning sexual harassment. The boys' opinions will be presented in forthcoming articles. Table 1 shows the number of participating girls.
The interviews lasted between 40 and 80 min. The interviews with the girls lasted for in total 9 h and 30 min (and in total 8 h and 40 min for the boys). All the interviews were recorded and transcribed. All youth were given fictitious names to safeguard their anonymity.

Ethical Considerations
Initially, aiming for a broad age spread one upper secondary and one compulsory school were randomly selected. In a second step the principals of these schools were contacted and informed about the study and we received their oral consent for the interviews. The principals in turn informed class teachers at the schools, and the staff suggested which classes were to participate. Grounds for their suggestions were that they represented the desired age spread and held a positive attitude to be interviewed. The youth in these classes were informed both orally and in writing about the study. To the pupils who were under 15 years of age, the parents had to give a written consent. Both parents and youth were also informed about requirements of confidentiality and utilisation of data (Swedish Research Council, 2017). Under the supervision of the class teacher, the youth themselves decided their interview partner. Discussing sexual harassment can be ethically sensitive, especially when the respondents are young. Therefore, it was important to point out that the study's interest was directed towards their talk about sexual harassment and not towards their personal experiences. It was also of great importance to create a safe interview situation.
By interviewing in pairs, the youth were given the opportunity to agree and give supplementary examples or object to each other's opinions. In the interview guide, themes were formulated to control that all aspects were illuminated. Examples of themes were 'the meaning of sexual harassment', 'occurrence in school environment', the view of the phenomenon and why it exists', teachers' responsibility, the phenomenon of dickpics' and so on. The youth chose what they wanted to tell, but as researchers, we are co-creators of what was told by asking the questions. Furthermore, we are co-creators in the analysis and understanding of the empirical data. The analysis and presentation of the present study are therefore influenced by our focus, research interest, and by our experiences of sexual harassment. In this article we focus on the girls' opinions regarding their relations to peers when they experience sexual harassment, both online and offline. As said before, in forthcoming articles we explore the boys' talk about sexual harassment.

The Analysis Process
The transcribed empirical data was read multiple times and analysed based on the purpose of the study, the interview questions. Questions we asked dealt with what the girls told us concerning sexual harassment and their relations to peers when exposed to violence in terms of sexual harassment, both online and offline.
The analysis of the transcribed data was conducted in two steps, based on the purpose of the study, the interview questions. Initially a content analysis was conducted, in which quotes concerning how the girls manage sexual harassment online and offline and conditions for preventing sexual harassment were put together in a separate document. Central meaning bearing units were formulated and eventually patterns appeared, concerning both research questions (Mayring, 2000;Kvale & Brinkman, 2014). In terms of identification of patterns and variations in the empirical data, a puzzle was put together where a mosaic of events emerged. The openness and adaptability of the semi-structured interviews provides the process of analysis with meaningful data to interpret the youth's experiences and opinions (Kvale & Brinkman, 2014). To get a deeper understanding, the next step was to analyse the data using theory. In this process, two overall coping strategies appeared: problemand emotional focused strategies. Through an in-depth analysis and with help of the theory, subcategories were formulated connected to behavioural and cognitive strategies, as well as to the online and offline context. In the result, the girls' voices are made visible with the help of the most significant and informative quotes for the aim of this study (Denscombe, 2016), which are authentically reproduced in the text.
Generalisation is an important issue in qualitative studies. 'Internal validity' is a concept that is used to describe the relation between theory and empirical data (Kvale & Brinkman, 2014). A critical moment in this study has been the construction of the coping strategies and it has been important to place the empirical data within a theoretical framework in order to give meaning to the content. The specific context may in this way be understood at a more principle level. Consequently, the result in this study may be valid outside the specific context by means of the theoretical framework and from a generalisation perspective; it is the quality of the formulated theoretical conclusions that is important for the valuation.

Results
The girls explain sexual harassment as wrongful acts committed offline and online. Offline in certain physical spaces, for example, in school. Online in photos published on screen. Given the more or less frequent presence or risk of sexual harassment in their lives, the girls reflect on how they manage stressful situations. The findings below are categorised into three main coping strategies following Coyne et al., (1981) and Lazarus & Folkman (1984;1987), namely, problem-focused behavioural strategies, emotion-focused cognitive strategies, and emotion-focused behavioural strategies.

Problem-focused behavioural coping strategies
In the empirical data emerge different examples of behavioural actions employed to handle stressful situations in their everyday life. To some extent, there is a difference between the online and offline contexts.

Flee from the problem
In cases of online sexual harassment, the girls tell numerous strategies they might use. Erika and Petra bring up a strategy that they consider useful when unknown friends send unwanted messages: Erika (14): Sometimes I've got requests from an account with, kind of, only three followers… and then there's a nude photo as a profile photo…and kind of asked "how are you?" or something like that. Then I've blocked directly. Petra(16): Yes. I wouldn't answer. I would have just blocked immediately.
Erika and Petra find it easy not to answer or to block an unknown person that harasses them online. Sofia acts the opposite way when she receives dickpics: Sofia(16): I just sit there and laugh about it, and just like continue what I'm doing. Let them handle their own things. Let them think they're cool … I don't care… not behind a screen.
Behind the screen Sofia feels secure and she does not care if she is exposed. Also, Camilla tries to dismiss harassments, even when the harassing boy is an ex-boyfriend: Camilla (12): Once my ex-boyfriend, who's still a little mad at me for ending our relationship, began to comment on all my photos…I was so ugly…so filthy…a whore and things like that. And I just 'liked' his comments (laughs). I get it as something funny. He tries to be cool and push me down...I think it's funny because he's such a coward.
Camilla ignores the comments by laughing them off. Sofia then tries to turn this online harassment into something positive for herself. Sofia(16): Yes, but I don't want to be bothered about it. No. I don't let it get to me, so they can continue if they want, like. It's nothing. No, but I mean, they can ask first/…/ But thinking how I've been bullied about my looks, then it's a little so-so. You just feel a little better then. Yes. I got the latest dickpic from someone yesterday, that he was hot for me, but, so I sent just" Haha", laughing smiley and heart. But I have that contact with him. I have met him and everything as well.
Sofia reformulates the harassment to improve her self-esteem. Another strategy is to refuse to take part in something that can lead to sexual harassment. Elin recalls a situation in which her boyfriend wanted her to send photos.
Elin (15): Yes, well, it was just … we hadn't seen each other … He lives rather far away … and he asked me for pictures then. And I said, "I don't intend to send pictures." Then he asked, "Why?" and…it's not that I don't trust him. It is because I don't trust that they do not end up somewhere else. Because if you send them via something, then you just don't know where they go. You can never be sure.
From Elin, we learn that girls can never feel sure, because photos of them could be visible online in places without their control.
When the girls are telling us about experiences of offline sexual harassment, they have worked out some behavioural strategies to evade the issue. Maria and Cecilia recount situations at the pub.
Cecilia (18): You get more of those harassments at a pub than what you would … because you're not wearing the same clothes as in school that you've got when you're in a pub. They are sort of like this, showing a little more skin, maybe a little deeper neckline, and that's provocative to some. /…/ Maria(18): In school you don't wear, you know, party clothes. Then you want to be like the rest. So, then I only want to be like everyone else, like this, blend in a little, and not stick out so much.
At school, Maria wants to blend in among her peers and, as she puts it, dress in any way that is "provocative". She has adapted her way to dress to avoid being exposed to negative comments. The girls have also developed behavioural strategies regarding physical spaces in school. Some places make them feel uncertain, especially if one is a newcomer in the school.
Cecilia (18): So, first year at this school, it was quite … we thought a lot about it … in some corridors we could feel that there were lots of stares, and people catcalling. Interviewer: When you say" some corridors", which corridors were a little uncomfortable to use? Maria(18): It was just, first of all, you're new to the school so everyone was kind of older … You didn't dare to look around. You're a little shy or something.
Cecilia felt uncomfortable being handled as a sexual object. After a while she and her peers avoided some corridors, not to risk being exposed to peers' staring or catcalling.

Attack the problem
Some of the experiences deal with strategies when being at the pub. Cecilia mentions that you can raise your hand against or push the person away. Another mentioned tactic is to raise your voice against the harassment attempt.
Cecilia (18): If we say that you're at a pub and I signal that "No, but I don't want to." You've raised your hand or pushed them away or something. Or if they start like this, to pull up your shirt or something. No, but then I try to … I say "No". Then you just walk away. You don't show any interest. I wouldn't … Yes, possibly if I tell the bouncer, depending on how far it's gone and then they get thrown out.
In this context, the strategy to raise your voice to get attention from a bouncer appears as a way to get rid of the harassing person and to remove him, that is to prevent him from having the possibility of new attempts of harassment. Problem-focused coping strategies can be summarised in a

Emotion-focused cognitive coping strategies
In the empirical data different forms of emotion-focused cognitive strategies are made visible. In order not to be upset or sad, they focus on their own emotional feelings or thoughts.

Emotional avoidance
In everyday life, the girls have to deal with the consequences that may occur if and when they react to the harassment. They must weigh the advantages and the disadvantages and thereafter decide how to act. Karin says that if she reacts there is a risk that the peers will comment on her: Karin (16): But then, you felt like, if I say, "No" then everyone is just going to "You are a damn whore" and "You're this" and "You're so" and just like that. That's why you never dare to say "No" either, but you just "Yes, okay then". Even if you yourself don't want it. So, it depends on whom they hang out with. No, maybe it wasn't everyone, but there were just some that they said that to, girls they thought looked good. Petra(16): Yes, it depends on which they hang around with…there are like groups in classes….
Petra's explanation is that there are different cultures in groups and some of the boys may use sexual harassment to show their interest, but also their male dominance. Another girl, Maria, avoids the problem by pretending that she does not care.
Maria (18): I'm the sort of person who just … for me, this is easy. So then I just like … would try to get away. So, I wouldn't have said anything, or possibly to my mother or someone, but nothing else. If she had then said like this, "Yes, but I think you should take this up," then I would've said, "No, no, it's okay. It was only one time. It's okay. It doesn't matter." The girls always have to deal with potential risks when reacting to sexual harassment. The best thing to do is to pretend and act like nothing has happened and suppress their true feelings not to risk being excluded from their peer groups.

Intellectualisation
In the empirical data, different intellectualising strategies come to light. The girls try to explain why some boys harass girls, and they blame both teachers and parents for their behaviour. Linn thinks parents have the responsibility to raise their children Linn (14): And then, the parents…I think they can change their way of talking to their children. You often say…if you get a girl, you tell them what they should do if they are exposed. But if it's a boy you don't tell him what he shouldn't do. So, you tell the victim but not the perpetrator.
.Lena and Cecilia also blame the teachers for not having sufficient knowledge of sexual harassment. The girls talk a lot about teachers' acceptance and give many examples of prevarications for boys' behaviour.
Cecilia (18): But I think, you can tell, because there the teachers just said, "But boys are like that" and "Take it as a compliment" if they said something to you. If that happens here in upper secondary school or lower secondary school, then it's still so. Then girls probably think that "Yes, but that's how guys are" and that's when it starts to turn into sexual harassment. Maria(18): I thought probably more the time before when I was younger. I remember that at our school disco the boys ran around and grabbed my ass, and you just said, "Stop!" You didn't take it seriously, but then they just learn that. "They think it is fun when I grab their butt!" and they keep doing it. I probably started in fourth … fifth grade, yes, up to sixth grade that sort of thing was like okay. To run by a girl during break and slap her on the rear. That was like, "Haha, do you think he likes me now?" But later when you think back on it, damn, that's not okay. And the teacher stands there and just, "But Cecilia, you don't need to cry because he touched your breast; he probably has a crush on you." So that I shouldn't yell at him or hit him, because he was in love with me. "He can't express himself any other way. He probably thinks you are cute." Things like that.
The girls emphasise the importance of both parents' and teachers' knowledge of explanation models that facilitate working toward counteracting sexual harassment.

Perspective shift
Another coping strategy deals with a perspective shift, i.e., in this case, taking responsibility for the harassing boys. This strategy is also related to self-blaming, for example when publishing photos online of themselves.
Isabel (14): You still have to blame yourself for what you are publishing…then if you get a mean comment… it was still me who chose to publish it.
Isabel concludes that girls have to be aware of the consequences that might follow from publishing photos. Johanna and Erika also blame themselves for being exposed.
Interviewer: Is it shameful to talk about these things? Johanna(14) and Erika (14) (14) : Yeah, and then you may begin to think, if the paw at your backside "is my backside too big?" or "do I have too big boobs?" These girls turn their focus against their own bodies. Another perspective shift deals with the fact that the girls do not want the harassing boy to be teased or laughed at if they confront him in school after sending dickpics. Petra(16) : No, it can be like, because then I feel it is my fault because I said it. Because I said it in front of everyone, and then he gets shit for it. And who knows, maybe he has very strong feelings for me. There is no one who knows that, and it's not very nice to that person either. Even if it was his choice to send it. Johanna (14): I think it's bad, because it is not often that guys send nude pictures to girls when they are together, and then the girl breaks up. Rather it is more common for guys to do that. But still it can also be, if we say it's a guy who sends a dickpic then, if you then like, "Damn, how disgusting!" and you screenshot and send it on, just, "Look how disgusting this guy was who sent this to me." But that is the same mistake, for girls to pass on a picture. Because, yes, what does that person feel? "Oh, how fun. I only tried to get her to like me, and then she sent it around." In these empirical data, the girls take the responsibility that no harm comes from negative comments from peers to the boy who previously harassed them. They do not want to show the boy's shortcomings for the rest of the class. Petra means that she has to behave in a proper way towards the boy; otherwise, she would blame herself for any wrongdoing, for example when a boy sends them a 'dickpic'. Lisa (16) tells about what would happen if a girl confronts the boy who sent a dickpic.
Then I also think that if it had happened to me, I probably wouldn't have dared to go up and just say, "Why did you send that to me yesterday?" Maybe not in front of all the people. Because then all the others would like, "Oh, what's wrong with that person?" No, he who, the person who sent that then, "Why does he send that to her?" … And then it becomes more like they go and tease that person.
Lisa highlights a situation in which girls are to protect the male at the cost of the female right to integrity, expressed as empathy towards the boys. In this section, the coping strategies indicate that the girls feel that the problem is beyond their capacity to change.

Emotion-focused behavioural coping strategies
To share an experience with peers or trustful adults makes the situation often easier to manage. In this way, the girls share the burden with others.

Seeking social support
The girls often discuss the importance of having close friends, a reliable family member or trustful adults in school to talk to when uncomfortable situations, such as sexual harassment, arise.
Lena (14) : I think I would tell a friend… Moa (14) : I think…that first I'd tell an adult …maybe my mum because we have a good relationship. Sara (14) : You probably would first have told that to a sibling maybe, or a parent. But probably a sibling or a friend. Depending on how serious it is then, and later you would have gone and talked to an adult whom you trust.
.As a last resort, the girls may turn to a trustful adult in school: Isabel (14): Then there're teachers who could act. but, maybe that's later, when you've told your friends first, and then your parents and then someone in school.
If it happened in school they must know.
Interviewer: Is there, if it were so, that you feel, or that you all, that someone feels that she needs to talk to someone at school, is there someone to talk to then? Sofia(16) : Yes, there're both the school nurse and the counsellor. Interviewer: Do you go there when it happens? Sofia(16): I always go there when something happens.
Sofia knows that she can visit helpful adults whenever she wants and that they listen to her. Emotion-focused coping strategies can be summarized (Table 3):

Discussion
The result and the analysis relate to the first research question that concerned how the girls manage situations when being exposed to sexual harassment. Different strategies appear according to the offline or online context and who the perpetrator is. The girls use different problem-focused behavioural coping strategies depending on the context. Concerning emotion-focused coping strategies, context differences were not found in the data material. Instead, the use of these strategies is related to the relationship with the perpetrator.

Girls' impact on conditions for preventing sexual harassment
As in previous research (Witkowska, 2005;Phipps & Young, 2015) girls in this study indicate that there are various contexts offline, not least in school, in which sexual harassment occur in their everyday life. Everything from negative comments to catcalling. In addition, our result shows that receiving unwelcome photos or comments with sexual implications is an everyday online experience (cf. Latcheva, 2017). The girls handle these situations differently. Strategies that emerge are related to the relationship between the exposed girl and the harassing boy and if the harassment takes place offline or online. By extension, this leads to conditions of relevance for how the girls can act upon their situation.

Known or unknown friends
In the empirical data there are many examples of how girls contemplate their behaviour when exposed to online harassment. If a girl receives a sexual comment or a photo online and the perpetrator is unknown, the girls block the person, do not answer comments or ignore the perpetrator. This indicates that they make use of the screen to avoid being exposed to further sexual harassment. Our conclusion is that the girls use problem-focused coping strategies in online situations that they appraise as within their capacity to have some impact on (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, 1987. In absence of social bonds between the exposed girl and the perpetrator, the girls can also exert the power to act, with a hope of no reprisals from peers. It is not to be understood that the girls have an influence on the online conditions to prevent sexual harassment. They might stop an individual perpetrator, but they are not empowered to stop the structural problem of being exposed to sexual comments or photos online. In other words, the girls have no power to challenge the heteronormative order and cognitive processes that work in these situations, where boys or men adopt superior rights leading to the subordination of girls and women (Connell, 2005;Hutchins, 2010). Achieving the same feeling of security offline, as when online, is not possible when the perpetrator is a known peer from school. In offline situations other conditions emerge. Then the girls construe themselves as both responsible for their social position and well-being in their different communities and for the well-being of the Cognitive (mental strategies and/or self-talk) Behavioural (acting or doing something) Emotion-focused coping (one appraises a stressor as beyond one's capacity to change). This sentence should be placed in the middle of the column. See Table 2 Emotional avoidance Seeking social support -Suppress their true feelings -Tell trustful friends, family members, teachers and counsellors Intellectualisation -Blaming the parents and the teachers Perspective shift -Self-blaming -Responsibility for the harassing boys Table 3 Summary overview of emotion-focused coping strategies harassing peer. At the same time, we understand that there is a correlation between negative emotions and closeness to the perpetrator, that is, the girls feel more unease if the perpetrator is a close friend rather than a stranger. We conclude that the girls are subject to violence in close relationships carrying risks for their social or psychological well-being. This conclusion derives from the girls' stories informing us that in order to be a 'normal' teenager, they have to consider carefully how to act so as not to risk being excluded from the peer group (cf. Mitchell et al., 2013;Eek-Karlsson 2019;Ståhl & Dennhag, 2021). In these cases, the girls often use emotion-focused cognitive coping strategies. They endure the situation by intellectualising the harassment or shifting perspectives (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, 1987. Another common strategy is to ignore the situation or resign oneself to it. We understand it as the girls do not want to risk their position in the peer group by attacking the perpetrating peer. Instead, they try to change the experience by re-evaluating the situation to reduce their discomfort (Coyne et al., 1981;Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, 1987. Their influence on the situation seems to be eradicated, more or less.

Lack of self-efficacy
In our analysis of the empirical data, as a whole, there are several examples of emotion-focused strategies (Coyne et al., 1981;Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, 1987. It can be understood in terms of the female experience of not being able to have an impact on male harassment as a whole. Instead, they are forced to focus on something that they actually can affect, i.e., their own emotions. It also appears that the girls feel more vulnerable offline than online, especially in school. They avoid corridors, choose 'school' clothes to fit in, etc. Nor would they question a harassing peer. Instead, they blame themselves, the parents or the teachers. This indicates that there is so much to lose if they attack the peer in school. Instead, they have to find other strategies to cope with the situation. One strategy is to take the boys' perspective and thereby reduce the harassment. By using this coping strategy, the boys are deprived of their responsibility for their harassing actions. One consequence might be an imposed normalisation of sexual harassment and that it becomes even more invisible in the everyday life of girls. In the data, the girls express the importance of having trustful friends and teachers around, which corresponds with previous research that stresses that trustful teachers as well as knowledge about structural patterns are important for handling sexual harassment (Gillander Gådin & Stein, 2019;Eek-Karlsson et al., 2022). A case of utter subordination is when Sofia expresses that sexual harassment also can be something positive. Previously, she was bullied, and now she says that she gets attention. This position can be devastating for girls with a bad self-confidence and lack of self-efficacy. Johnson and Johnson's study (2021) highlights the characteristics of a 'rape culture' and they point out that traditional gender roles, sexism, adversarial sexual beliefs, hostility towards women, and acceptance of violence are common ideas in these cultures. Therefore, it is of great importance to eliminate a sexist culture as early as possible for all girls, but especially for girls who have a degrading view of themselves (like Sofia). These girls are particularly vulnerable.
Moreover, our study indicates that the girls' do not rely on their teachers to take their experiences of sexual harassment seriously and to support them in counteract-ing sexual harassment in school. If the teacher has a biological explanation to boys' behaviour, there is a risk that this point of view is consolidated in both boys and girls (Eek-Karlsson et al., 2022). Instead, the girls feel compelled to accept the current situation and resort to their friends for actual support. This can be compared to previous research that points out that sexual harassment has become a norm both in schools and in other contexts (Hill & Kearl, 2011;Gillander Gådin & Stein, 2019). Nevertheless, we could see that some girls start to reflect during the interviews. For example, Cecilia and Maria question teachers' wrongful reactions to boys' behaviour during their school time. Implicitly, they are aware that sexual harassment is something wrong, and they address teachers' obligations to work toward gender equity (Gillander Gådin et al., 2013;Plan International 2020).

Pedagogical implications
This study contributes with knowledge about girls' perspectives when exposed to sexual harassment, in terms of both how they act and in what ways girls might have an impact on processes of sexual harassment. The girls emphasise that they have their own experiences and the empirical data includes indications of underlying structures that contribute to sexual harassment. In the analysis, hierarchies and power positions between the genders become obvious, and within these boundaries, there is limited acting space for girls. There are many parallel processes and constant negotiations for the girls to act according to the prevailing order, if not to risk being an outsider in the peer group. As a consequence, the girls often turn their coping strategies to protect themselves. We understand these strategies in terms of 'beating around the bush'. It means that the girls seldom attack the problem itself, instead they develop different 'supporting' strategies to cope with the situation. Another reason why the girls are 'beating around the bush, may be a fear of the teachers' reaction when they tell about their experiences. The result in this study, as well as in previous research (Scarduzio et al., 2018), shows that the girls often feel ashamed of being harassed and they have to be sure that the teachers treat them with respect (cf. Eek-Karlsson et al., 2022). The Swedish school system is based on democracy, fundamental values and gender equity. Both in the Swedish Education Act (SFS 2010:800) and Discrimination Act (SFS 2010: 567) the teachers' assignment is clearly described. In addition, from 1st of July 2022, the curriculum states that upper secondary school is to make visible and counteract unequal gender patterns, intolerance and oppression that limit the student's learning and development. Thus, steering documents demand from upper secondary teachers to act against sexual harassment. There is a need for all teachers to acquire adequate knowledge about the pupils' everyday life and how to work against restricting norms, towards gender equality and cognitive processes that operate in environments that may be a part of normalisation of sexual harassment. Teachers must take a step forward and seriously discuss the meaning of gender equality in their own practice by talking with both boys and girls about structural processes that create unequal conditions. Referring to Hutchins (2010) the ecology of the school system must change. Our study is intended to form the basis for such discussions in different pedagogical practices, for example, in classrooms and staff meetings. If sexual harassment is not highlighted in schools' efforts towards gender equality, there is great risk that the girls are left to cope with harassment by taking the responsibility on their own. We call for policy makers and those who enact policies in schools to promote strategies the better to enable girls to be part of structural changes that respect every girl's integrity and equal rights, without girls' encountering the risk of being excluded.
Funding There was no external funding for this project. Open access funding provided by Linnaeus University.
Data Availability Survey data collected and kept confidential and thus not available beyond this project.

Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Research Involving Human Participants and/or Animals. Research involved human participants and was approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority.

Informed Consent
The research presented no more than minimal risk of harm to subjects. The principal of the two schools were informed about the study and gave an oral consent. The youth were informed both orally and in writing. To the youths who were under 15 years of age, the parents had to give a written consent. Both parents and youth were also informed about requirements of confidentiality and utilisation of data.
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