While there have been few systematic studies, reports and investigations – whatever few have been put together – show that violence against girls is quite pervasive in our class rooms and that it is affecting quality of education and the number of girls in education institutions in India.

The first demand being put forth by numerous bodies working in this area is that the government and various administrative and non-governmental bodies recognize that violence is rampant in our schools.

An ActionAid report states “Studies show that violence is a key factor in denying girls their right to education. ActionAid’s 12 demands to governments cover legislation and law enforcement, monitoring and data gathering, confidential complaint systems, abolition of school fees and changes to teacher training and the school curriculum. ActionAid calls on the international community to implement existing international frameworks, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) (UN 1979) and to recognise the importance of violence and other barriers to girls’ education by making these the subject of new targets in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).”

Unfortunately, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including Goal 2 (universal primary education) and Goal 3 (gender equality), make no explicit mention of violence against girls as a critical structural barrier to education (UN 2000). The issue has also been neglected by major education initiatives such as the Global Campaign for Education, of which ActionAid is a member.

Having recognized that girls in our schools are quite prone to violence and that remedying this situation is critical to increased participation by girls, watch groups, policy bodies and women’s groups are demanding various concrete steps by legislative and executive bodies in the government.

The first set of demands focus on processes that allow for the girl child to report violence to individuals who are not in a direct position of power over the child. In some programs in Africa, these include counselors – usually women – attached to these schools, who can begin investigations against teachers, staff or other students based on complaints. Another set of programs use telephones to report cases of abuse; these phone calls can begin investigations. In these programs, the confidentiality of the victim is ensured. Such programs alleviate fear in the minds of girls and give them confidence that their concerns will be heard, acknowledged and remedied.

One of the biggest problems with violence against girls and women is that most cases are not reported or documented. Processes such as the one listed above will help ensure that these cases get documented. Studies are also recommending the establishment of national data systems to collect sex disaggregated data that focuses on the form and prevalence of sexual violence against girls. In fact, such a database is important in evaluating the effect and evolution of policies. In addition, public dissemination of this data will also increase accountability in our education system

Another issue is that sexual violence is loosely defined and hence often depends on the interpretation of some bureaucrat or civil society organization. A critical component in this effort rests on increased bridging of systems of justice and education. As investigations by the Tamil Nadu Women’s Commission showed, many of the perpetrators were teachers or principals – people in power over the life of school children – who were transferred as punishment for past acts of sexual violence.

The second set of demands has focused on greater accountability of teachers and other individuals that wield power over children in schools. ActionAid is asking its international programs to lobby with its local governments to “Enact, reinforce or amend domestic legislation in accordance with international standards to protect women from violence.”

Today, there are no clear guidelines regarding repercussion from sexual abuse of students and forms of punishment. It is important that the forms and degrees of punishment – including sacking of the individual, filing of FIRs as well as starting judicial processes against the individual – is well laid out and that teachers are presented with enough information about these processes. Again, these studies argue that legislative efforts must define these processes.

Other recommendations consider aspects of infrastructure that affect gender violence. The absence of toilets for girls is one. The need for greater proximity of schools to communities is another. Girls often face violence when commuting to schools, especially if they have to go through communities other than their own. This is especially true in cultures that are more patriarchal. While no specific studies have been done in India, studies in South Africa and South East Asia make these recommendations. The cases presented to the women’s commission in Tamil Nadu concur with these recommendations.

In Pakistan, governments have opened separate schools for girls at the primary level to get around the problems of abuse from an extremely patriarchal system. Unfortunately, where the abuse is more significant – middle and high schools – these facilities do not exist.

As described earlier, gender violence includes but is not restricted to sexual abuse. Much of the violence is through comments or actions by teachers that discourage girl children or suggest that they are incapable or less able to perform certain tasks or should not participate in certain learning processes to maintain gender stereotypes. Policy groups recommend that training programs must systematically address gender equality issues in pre-service and in-service training of teachers, ensuring that they see it as part of their core role to challenge stereotypes, actively oppose discrimination and guarantee equal treatment of girls and boys. They must integrate gender awareness in teacher assessment/ appraisal processes.

Peer violence forms a significant component of violence faced by the girl child. Whether it be in the form of overt sexual violence, more accepted forms such as ‘eve teasing’, which is in fact an euphemism for verbal forms of sexual violence, or comments that reinforce gender stereotypes, peer interaction also creates an atmosphere of fear and discomfort for the girl student. There needs to be increased gender sensitivity among students as well.

School programs and curricula must therefore also be designed to increase sensitivity to the needs and concerns of female students. Exercises and programs that enhance gender sensitivity have been tried in schools and communities from a variety of social, religious and economic backgrounds with successful results suggesting that making such programs a requirement in all educational programs might achieve much in reducing gender violence.

Programs with the community are also necessary to counter social trends that discourage girls from going to school or encourage drop out as girls become older. Numerous communities from diverse socio-religious backgrounds stop their girls from going to school either owing to reasons related to marriage, puberty or because of increased domestic work that the girl is asked to help with. While groups have asked for legislation that makes it illegal to remove girls from schools for the above reasons, enforcement of such rules is close to impossible. It is necessary for school programs to then work with the community as well as for government supported awareness campaigns that encourage girls going to school. For example, public felicitation of older girls who continue to go to school and their families might go a long way in decreasing drop outs.

Programs that promote interactions between the school management and the communities through Parent Teacher Associations or through other forms of community participation would help parents present their concerns and provide an opportunity to the school to address them. These concerns could include safety of the girls, concerns related to their reaching puberty, infrastructure that is specific to their needs – for example toilets for girls, etc.

However, one also recognizes that schools with highest dropout rates are often in poorer sections where the school itself is strapped for funds. These programs place greater stress on underpaid teachers and cash strapped schools. Under such circumstances, it is important that the government step in with support. After all, along with the community, the government is responsible (and claims to be committed) to ensure greater participation of girls in our education processes.

It has the biggest role in ensuring that our schools are safe for girl children and proactively encourage their participation. Indicators today suggest that neither is true. In the absence of programs to address these concerns – end violence against girls and increase gender sensitivity programs that address their needs in the education processes – their participation will continue to be a myth.

- Sanat Mohanty

References

Barton, C. (2004) “Seeking Accountability on Women’s Human Rights, Women’s International Coalition for Economic Justice”, New York. www.wicej.addr.com/mdg/toc.html

CIETafrica (2000) “Beyond Victims and Villains: The Culture of Sexual Violence in South Johannesburg”, CIET and Southern Metropolitan Local Council Greater Johannesburg, Johannesburg.

Human Rights Watch (2001) “Scared at School: Sexual Violence Against Girls in South African Schools”, Human Rights Watch, New York.

Mirsky, J. (2003) “Beyond Victims and Villains: Addressing Sexual Violence in the Education Sector”, The Panos Institute, London. www.panos.org.uk/resources/reportdownload.asp?type=report&id=1060

Lopez, V. (2003) “In World Youth Report 2003”, United Nations, New York.
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/wyr/documents/worldyouthreport.pdf

UN (1979) “Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women”, United Nations, New York. www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/text/econvention.htm

UN (2000) “United Nations Millennium Declaration”, United Nations, New York.
http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm, http://www.developmentgoals.org/

UNESCO (2003) “Gender and Education for All: the Leap to Equality, Summary Report”,
UNESCO, Paris http://www.unesco.org/education/efa_report/summary_en.pdf

ActionAid (2004) “Stop Violence Against Girls in Schools”, http://www.actionaid.org/wps/content/documents/ActionAidViolenceBklt.pdf

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