ARE SCHOOLS SAFE HAVENS FOR CHILDREN?

• Provide in-service teacher training on gender-sensitive, nonviolent classroom managementtechniques to union members.• Enforce violations of the code of conduct or the declaration of professional ethics with members.• Conduct outreach with members about regulations governing professional conduct and the use ofcorporal punishment.Schools• Develop a clear strategy that targets school-related gender-based violence, based on a wholeschool approach.• Promote a more supportive school culture by facilitating the reporting of abuse, reducing bullyingand corporal punishment, providing effective counseling, and encouraging constructive and equalrelationships between students.• Conduct safety audits of the school grounds to better identify unsafe areas. Ensure that toiletfacilities are sanitary, located in a safe place, and secure.• Cooperate with the child protection system, health services, and the police to support studentswho experience SRGBV.• Establish forums for students to express their voices and take action, such as student councils,children’s committees, children’s clubs, or support groups.• Establish parent-teacher-student associations that report students’ concerns, advocate on students’behalf, and promote peer education.• Enforce codes of conduct for teachers and school personnel. Work with students and communitymembers to establish codes of conduct, if national-level policies do not exist.Local LevelCommunities must come together to foster awareness of the variousforms of school-related gender-based violence; learn how toidentify such violence; and develop strategies to protect children.Strategies that draw on the authority of traditional leaders topromote positive change are more often accepted and sustained bythe community over the long term. The literature also shows that itis important to involve children in designing and implementingcommunity-based approaches.Communities can:• Facilitate school-community linkages by establishingadvisory committees that include community leaders,police, health services, social services, faith-based groups,parents, children, and school staff to address genderinequality and gender violence.• Form effective PTAs or school management committeesthat will hold schools accountable for guaranteeing a safeand secure learning environment.• Become more aware of how the various forms of genderbasedviolence have a negative impact on the well-being of Girls in class in AfghanistanAlejandro Chicheri/World Food Programme,children.Courtesy of USA D• Monitor the quality of the learning environment.• Ensure that parents are aware of codes of conduct and reporting procedures.ARE SCHOOLS SAFE HAVENS FOR CHILDREN?EXAMINING SCHOOL-RELATED GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE23