Boys 'are being branded sex predators for 'clumsy teenage fumbles'
Expert warns boys are being branded sex predators for ‘clumsy teenage fumbles’ amid ‘dangerous’ backlash after MeToo movement swept schools – as Channel Four airs new drama based on allegations
- Julie Lynn-Evans warned that boys’ lives were being ruined by unfair allegations
- READ MORE: Top psychotherapist reveals the harm being down by social media
Boys are being branded sexual predators for ‘clumsy teenage fumbles’ as part of ‘an excessive cultural shift’ against them triggered by MeToo and Everyone’s Invited, a leading child expert has warned.
Julie Lynn-Evans, a psychotherapist with more than three decades’ experience, said that the movements were ‘a tremendous force for good but it is often a double-edged sword’.
She said many had been accused on Whisper, an app that allows pupils to report alleged sexual harassment and bullying incidents anonymously. Some had been socially ostracised, expelled or even left suicidal, she said.
Lynn-Evans told The Sunday Times: ‘I am watching boys’ lives being destroyed by an excessive cultural shift…. in the wake of MeToo and Everyone’s Invited. This is not fair, it is not justice and it is potentially dangerous.’
Julie Lynn-Evans, a psychotherapist with more than three decades’ experience, said that the movements were ‘a tremendous force for good but it is often a double-edged sword’
The expert said that while her clients during lockdown were mainly girls with eating disorders, since September they have ‘exclusively boys’ who have been punished for behaviour she described as little more than clumsy ‘teenage fumbling’.
Ms Lynn-Evans, who was one of the first people in her field to warn of the dangers of excessive mobile phone and social media use among teenagers, said the trend was ‘as serious as any’ she had previously identified.
Sandra Paul, a criminal defence lawyer at Kingsley Napley, said she is receiving four or five enquiries a month from families of boys who had had claims made against them.
These include ‘unwelcome brushing up against someone in the lunch queue, to truth-or-dare games that go wrong, to alleged rape at a festival’. None of the claims have led to successful prosecutions.
This week Channel 4 will air a new drama, Consent, which tells the story of ‘Archie’ (pictured being played by Tom Victor) and ‘Natalie’, who begin a friendship in sixth form before they have sex at a party when Natalie is drunk
Everyone’s Invited, which was set up in 2021 by a former private schoolgirl, has been used to share more than 5,000 anonymous allegations included claims of sexual assault, groping and rape.
An Ofsted report published a year later found 79 per cent of girls said sex assault happened ‘sometimes’ or ‘a lot’ among people of their age at secondary school.
This week Channel 4 will air a new drama, Consent, which tells the story of ‘Archie’ and ‘Natalie’, who begin a friendship in sixth form before they have sex at a party when Natalie is drunk.
Emma Dennis-Edwards, who wrote the show, said she was ‘shocked but not entirely surprised about the culture of toxic masculinity and misogyny explored within the drama’.
Stories revealed on Everyone’s Invited include a girl who was allegedly attacked in a tent at a party, and other shocking accounts of revenge porn, harassment and rape.
The site allows users to submit claims anonymously, with many of the accounts naming the specific school.
Emma Dennis-Edwards, who wrote the show, said she was ‘shocked but not entirely surprised about the culture of toxic masculinity and misogyny explored within the drama’
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