We must change the record of youth exclusion at the highest levels of decision-making. The first-ever Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children set itself to include youth in its agenda and political declaration. Now, we must ensure that youth voices, expertise, and solutions are heard in keeping governments accountable for their pledges.
Safe to Learn’s calls to action and tools have helped governments around the world identify the steps they must take to prevent and address violence in and around schools. Now, it’s their turn to ensure schools are environments where children are safe to learn, develop, and thrive.
Young people don’t just want to be sources for data sets or people who need protection. We also deserve agency over our own data and experience and want to be an active part of global efforts to end SRGBV.
Decisions relating to child protection should be made using the best available evidence. Learn more about Giving Evidence's evidence review on organizational responses to child abuse globally.
A billion children spend a significant proportion of their time in school every day, making school settings a key factor in interventions to save more children from violence.
Schools have a responsibility to empower students to prevent school-related gender-based violence.
It is not enough for children to attend school. We must also ensure they are safe doing so. Violence prevention and response should be integrated into education policy and programming to ensure safe schools for all students.
School-related gender-based violence is a particularly egregious form of gender-based violence because it happens to children who sometimes do not even recognise it as violence.
Investing in ending childhood sexual violence is the right thing to do, and we must protect kids and support those who have experienced this horrible trauma. Globally, policy and decision makers can save billions investing in preventing child sexual abuse. The returns on investment would cut across physical and mental health, labor, judicial, and other sectors.
With data from 23 countries we've successfully created evidence-based solutions to reduce violence against young girls, including ending child marriage and other harmful norms. See the VACS in action.
Through collective advocacy messaging and political recommendations on the intersections of gender and violence, we can influence the political stakeholders who can enable efforts to end gender-based violence in, around and through schools.
While school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) is prevalent, it is also preventable, and there are evidence-based solutions that show that teachers and school personnel can be significant changemakers when they take active roles in preventing, addressing, and responding to violence.