UNGEI SRGBV
Photo credit: UNGEI
Photo credit: UNGEI
Safe Blog

Lessons from whole-school interventions to prevent school-related gender-based violence

24th January 2025

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School-related gender-based violence affects millions of children around the world. UNGEI champions a whole school approach to end SRGBV so that all children can be safe to learn.

School-related gender-based violence (SRGBV), like other forms of violence against children, is closely linked to entrenched gender roles and inequalities. UNGEI, the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative, is one of the leading global partnerships exclusively focused on the intersection of gender equality and education. We know that you cannot end violence without understanding this intersection.

UNGEI SRGBV FAQ

A whole-school approach recognizes that schools exist within a community, and reflects the community’s values and norms. It prioritizes strengthening the interconnections between teachers, administrators, students, parents, community members, education officials, and civil society organizations to transform unequal and harmful gender and social norms and practices. In this way, children can learn in safe and inclusive environments.

Interventions that take a whole-school approach have multiple components, including catalyzing commitment from school leaders, changes to school policies and procedures, teacher training and support, and student and teacher participation.

Lessons from the whole-school approach in Sierra Leone

In Sierra Leone, UNGEI, in partnership with UNICEF and with financial support from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and GIZ, implemented the ‘End SRGBV’ program in partnership with the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education and the International Rescue Committee in the country’s Kenema and Kono districts from 2023-2024.

The program adopted UNGEI’s whole-school approach by working with students, parents, teachers, communities, and school management committees. The intervention reached 200 schools, reaching nearly 10% of the population.

UNGEI SRGBV CASE STUDIES

Sierra Leone faces high rates of gender-based violence.

  • 62% of women aged 15-49 report experiencing physical or sexual violence at least once in their life.
  • A large percentage of school authorities, teachers, caregivers, and children approve of corporal punishment as long as it does not cause severe harm and they state that girls actively elicit sexual relations with authority figures for transactional purposes.
  • Long distances to schools from villages are common and expose girls to the risk of sexual predation as they commute to school.

To address this context, key interventions included capacity development for teachers, principals, community members, and school board members on SRGBV, Teachers’ Codes of Conduct, and SRGBV reporting mechanisms. The program helped establish school-level SRGBV reporting mechanisms and safe spaces. Students learned about SRGBV through an age-appropriate life skills curriculum. Community GBV case management workers were supported, and all schools were jointly supervised by the Ministry.

The results were significant.

The percentage of students who reported feeling unsafe at school reduced from 13% to 2%.

This was almost the same for girls and boys

Sexual violence incidents reduced from 85% to 52%.

97% of students indicated they would feel comfortable reporting if someone hurt them at school, compared to 71% at baseline.

This was almost the same for girls and boys

The percentage of students who believed that teachers should be allowed to use corporal punishment reduced from 51% to 17%.

There was a 5-fold increase in positive gender attitudes, from 5% to 27%.

9% percent of students believed that a girl or woman should keep rape a secret, down from 70%.

The impact of the whole-school approach im Sierra Leone

It is clear that implementing the whole-school approach catalyzed key behavior and norm changes among students, genuinely shifting behaviors and attitudes, as well as having a massive impact on children’s own sense of value and awareness about their rights.

Beyond this example, our experience in other countries like Mozambique and Zimbabwe over the past decade with country-level programs, partnerships, and global policy advocacy for ending GBV in and around schools show that if there is commitment, change is possible – even in the short term.

We must measure the shifts, the changes, and the results of our work to advocate for holistic approaches, such as the whole-school approach, to be adopted and scaled up, to promote a safe learning environment for all, and to prevent and address school-related gender-based violence.

Ending SRGBV is critical to keeping children safe and ensuring access to education

Far too many children experience physical, emotional, and sexual violence in and around school settings at the hands of peers, teachers, and other authority figures.

Schools must be safe spaces for children to learn and thrive. We have the power to make this a reality.

With a whole-school approach, we can make sure that children can inform the change they want to see in their school environment and work with adults to ensure that safety is the number one priority, and trustworthy reporting mechanisms are in place.

*UNGEI co-leads the Global Working Group to End SRGBV together with UNESCO since 2014.

UNGEI partners with Safe to Learn, Together for Girls, Coalition for Good Schools and other organizations promoting safe learning environments for all.