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.
There are millions of young people around the world experiencing school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) who are not able to tell their stories and get access to the support they need. They deserve to be heard.
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.
I'm just one of these young people who have witnessed and experienced SRGBV. I can't represent all of them, but I can tell you that we are a long way from putting an end to this violence, and we need to take action urgently.
Young people are already generating evidence and creating change to end SRGBV
The reason why young people are getting involved in initiatives to end SRGBV is not just because we're interested in it, or want to understand it. It's because we have seen the impact this issue has had on ourselves and our peers, and we want to solve it.
As a young person from a small province in the Philippines, one of the main issues we face is that we are not taken seriously, we are not believed. We advocate to our governments, school principals, and school administrators, but they don't listen to us. They always say “That's not happening here.”
Due to the lack of support from school authorities, a group of young activists decided to collect our own data to highlight the prevalence of SRGBV in our learning environments. We surveyed 261 15-17-year-old girls in schools in our city about their experiences with school-related gender-based violence. This is what we found:
75.1% had experienced sexual violence at least once. They told us that cat-calling, especially on the way to and from school, is very prevalent as a form of school-related gender-based violence.
50.25% had experienced sexual violence more than once. 75% at least once.
20.75% have had instances of being touched or grabbed in their private parts.
13.8% of them have experienced sexual bribery in exchange for good grades from their teachers.
Young people often feel like they are not able to ask for help
We have shown our ability to generate new evidence around SRGBV and help and support our peers in unique ways. But we also need other child protection stakeholders to do their part.
Practitioners and policymakers must support and empower children, young people, and survivors as change agents.
They are not just recipients of your interventions, they should also be an active part of designing and implementing them. We want to be part of intergenerational partnerships where we can learn from each other, and build each other’s capacity for change.
We need a whole school approach to preventing, mitigating, and responding to school-related gender-based violence.
This does not just involve engaging teachers and administrators, it emphasizes the role of students and student bodies in creating safe learning environments.
Addressing school-related gender-based violence should be at the heart of national education systems and policies.
Governments should have rigorous reporting and data-gathering mechanisms to ensure these policies are monitored and implemented effectively.
Governments must uphold existing international commitments and take action to meet those commitments.
There are multiple international agreements on school-related gender-based violence: the UN Convention on Eliminating All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Beijing Platform for Action, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Transforming Education Summit, the Call to Action on Protection from GBV in Emergencies 2021-2025… We already have the frameworks to move forward to end SRGBV. We must use them.
Addressing school-related gender-based violence should be a priority in humanitarian responses.
This is often dismissed or forgotten.
Donors must pay more attention and allocate more resources to ending and addressing school-related gender-based violence.
Only this way they will be able to maximize the impact of their investments in other areas, such as education.
Ending SRGBV will not be possible without involving youth
I come here with the humility of youth, knowing that I don't know everything. But also, I come here with the audacity of youth, knowing that there is a lot that needs to be done to end school-related gender-based violence.
Young people are already pioneering efforts to generate new evidence on school-related gender-based violence and implementing local initiatives to prevent, mitigate, and respond to this issue.
We live the reality of school-based gender-based violence, and we know what we can do to put an end to it.
Our schools and our governments need to do more to ensure we are safe to learn. We want to see change, and we want to be part of it.
*Transform Education is a young feminist network hosted by the UN Girls Education Initiative working to achieve gender equality in and through education.