However, across the world, students report experiencing unacceptably high rates of violence in and around school settings. School-related gender-based violence is a prevalent form of violence that occurs in and around school settings, driven by harmful gender norms and stereotypes.

Even when gender norms are not the primary cause of violence, they undergird the social dynamics that impact who perpetrates and experiences different forms of violence.

Education of both girls and boys plays a key role in human, social, and economic development. Education is a vital part of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and creating a more equitable world. However, globally, girls graduate at a significantly lower rate than boys.

According to the UNGEI report, “Missed Opportunities: The High Cost of Educating Girls,” globally nine in ten girls complete their primary education, but only three in four complete their lower secondary education. In low-income countries, despite progress over the last two decades, less than two-thirds of girls complete their primary education and only one in three complete lower secondary school.

To better understand how school-related gender-based violence impacts school attendance, USAID’s Higher Education Support Network (HESN) supported AidData and Together for Girls to conduct secondary analyses of the Violence Against Children & Youth Surveys (VACS) data to identify the prevalence of school-related gender-based violence, as well as details on violence perpetration, victimization risk, and post violence behaviors in selected countries.

One finding of the project was that many students who report experiencing violence subsequently miss school, reinforcing the existing understanding that school-related gender-based violence constitutes a serious barrier to education for all students, and exacerbates existing gender inequalities in educational access and attainment.

Lower attendance is cited as a key driver of students dropping out of school — missing school can lead to lower academic performance and decreased graduation rates.

The analyses found that globally, girls missed school due to sexual violence at a higher rate than boys.

In Malawi for example, 22 percent of girls who report experiencing sexual violence reported missing school due to the violence, whereas 4% of boys reported missing school.

In every country in the analyses except Malawi, females who experience classmate-perpetrated violence were slightly more likely than males to miss school as a result of the violence.

However in Malawi, 12 percent of boys who experienced sexual violence reported missing school due to the violence, and 10 percent of girls reported missing school due to the violence.

Our research found that rates of school absenteeism as a result of corporal punishment among the four sub-Saharan African countries varied from 1 in 10 to 1 in 4.

In Honduras, corporal punishment has been banned since at least 1996 and only one percent or less of both boys and girls reported experiencing corporal punishment by a teacher. However, over half of the girls and over one third of boys reported missing school and recent reports by UNICEF reinforce that severe forms of corporal punishment are still implemented in the country.

Although schools are one of many settings in which violence against children and adolescents take place, schools also offer the unique and powerful potential to serve as protective spaces, acting as an important arena for broader social change to end violence both in and out of the classroom. There are proven school-based interventions that can reduce violence and address the social norms that drive school-related gender-based violence.

The INSPIRE framework is an evidence-based resource for preventing and responding to violence against children and adolescents. The framework presents seven strategies to help communities focus on prevention programs and services with the greatest potential to reduce violence against children, including through education and school settings.