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Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education

The average student spends more than 1,000 hours at school every year. For most, these years are spent in a safe environment, surrounded by supportive teachers and peers. But many aren’t so lucky.  According to UNESCO’s research, one in three students has been bullied by their peers at school at least once in the last month and a similar proportion are affected by physical violence.

While there are many types of school violence, and an equal number of reasons inciting it, gender plays a key role in why, and how, it unfolds.  The latest figures from the World Bank show that each year, more than 700 million women are victims of physical and/or sexual violence. Analysis by found that violence in schools is more common in countries where a larger proportion of young people condone harmful gender norms and attitudes. 

As this year’s 16 days of activism against gender-based violence draws to a close, we reflect on how the gender-based violence that plays out in the broader community is mirrored in schools. And, we ask ourselves, how can we shift the gender and social norms so firmly entrenched in our lives as a means of addressing school-related gender-based violence?

Positive social change through transformative education

Just as schools can be places where patterns of gender-based violence in broader society play out, they can also be a site in which norms can be challenged.

Increasingly we hear about the importance of transformative learning, 21st century skills and fostering a sense of global citizenship. Education systems recognize that schools are not simply about the transfer of academic knowledge, but about providing learners with the competencies to contribute to a more just, equal and peaceful world. speaks to this importance of this, positioning education as central to fostering the citizens needed to contribute to the 2030 agenda. 

There is an effort to develop and implement different forms of transformative education, under themes such as global citizenship education, comprehensive sexuality education, education for sustainable development, and increasingly, violence prevention education. The challenge ahead is to identify good practices in these areas and use those to reform education systems.

The success of violence prevention education, and in fact all forms of transformative education, relies on changes in school policies and curricula, as well as a shift in the mindset of teachers and their pedagogical practice. This means recognizing the importance of content that goes beyond traditional subjects. Such programmes are only effective when taught well and yet they can be.

UNESCO’s experience of implementing the violence prevention programme in five countries in east and southern Africa and the Asia-Pacific sheds some light on this. The programme involves training of teachers in a curriculum tool that aims to foster critical thinking, promote gender equal attitudes and develop help-seeking skills in learners.

The pilot interventions show promising results in shifting harmful gender norms and attitudes in both teachers and learners. Teachers spoke about how the process of introspection had changed them and reaffirmed their thinking about protecting learners from harm.

Yet they also told us about the challenges in taking such a programme on. Some found it difficult to find space in an already stretched curriculum. Others found the teaching methods– learner-centred approaches that make the programme effective – challenging to adopt. For many, talking about issues such as gender and violence is sensitive in their local context.

Beyond the classroom, teachers also told us of the need to strengthen the whole school approach to addressing gender-based violence, a holistic approach that involves the broader school community and education sector. This includes strong reporting mechanisms and links to services where students can be referred as needed. We are starting to see examples of how this ‘whole school’ vision of safety can be made real, like in Zimbabwe where to eliminate violence.

Why is this work important in the context of COVID-19?

Widespread school closures have presented new challenges for preventing and responding to gender-based violence. Quarantines and other social distancing measures linked to COVID-19 resulted in increased reports of violence against children, sexual exploitation and domestic violence. On re-opening, schools play a crucial role in .

Investment in transformative learning is an investment in student wellbeing. The kinds of skills they develop in such programmes are central to their building the resilience to cope with threat and uncertainly.

Using the power of collective action to find solutions

We know that we are not alone at UNESCO is shining a spotlight on the role of education in ending gender-based violence. And we know that complex problems require complex solutions which are better tackled together. This is why we continue to invest in our partnerships with other organizations. Last month I reconfirmed UNESCO’s commitment to end violence in school through the and to harness the evidence we have generated to support country actions. Throughout 2020 we continued to elevate our work with and the 60 partners working together to #EndSRGBV - providing guidance and sharing lessons from countries around the world. The , and online events during the 16 Days of Activism are all a powerful testimony to the wave of action and commitment to changing the status quo.

Only through collective and coordinated action to address the root causes of gender-based violence in and around schools can education systems truly ‘build back better’ and provide safe, inclusive learning environments for all children.