Half of all Hong Kong students are exposed to some form of sexual harassment.

And nearly all the culprits are their boyfriends or girlfriends – although 21 percent are classmates and 14percent friends.

The figures come from interviews with 5,902 primary, secondary and tertiary students conducted by the Equal Opportunities Commission.

Harassment includes sexual jokes, sexual propositions, indecent gestures, inappropriate touching and the showing of pornography.

Both boys and girls have been harassed by someone of the same or opposite sex.

It was also found that both male and female students are affected psychologically and emotionally when harassed.

Two in every five said they felt angry, 38percent were scared and 36percent said they could not relate well to others.

The survey also revealed that 58 percent of the students chose to keep silent.

The commission received only nine complaints about sexual harassment by students from 2008 up to last month.

Commission policy and research committee member John Tse Wing-ling said sexual harassment is a serious problem for students at all education levels.

“Many primary and secondary school students and some tertiary students do not understand much about sexual harassment,” Tse said.

He said sexual harassment is becoming more common in university orientation camps.

“It is indeed a problem that must be tackled as some students may even think it is part of the school culture.”

Tse said it is hard to find any school conducting promotions that “say no to sexual harassment.”

Schools have adopted an “ostrich policy” and handle complaints in a subtle manner for fear that their reputations may be adversely affected.

Some victims lodged complaints only when they could no longer tolerate such harassment.

He stressed that education providers have a legal duty to take steps to prevent and respond to such behavior.

“Under the Sex Discrimination Ordinance, conduct of a sexual nature that creates a hostile or intimidating environment in an educational setting is unlawful,” Tse said.

Schools should provide training to staff and students to enhance their awareness and set up an effective complaint- handling procedure.