Connect with Respect | A Curriculum that Addresses Gender-based Violence in Educational Settings

This past month included the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, something which also takes place in educational settings. A 16-day campaign against violence against women runs from November 25 to December 10 (International Human Rights Day) each year.

Earlier in the month the first ever International Day Against Violence and Bullying at School, including Cyberbullying was launched.

To mark these occasions, in October, Unesco released a released their 2020 Gender Report on the prevalence of school-related gender-based violence worldwide and measures to prevent and address it.

In this great article there is a list of really great strategies and they include this extract on curriculum

Evidence shows that most countries have adopted curriculum-based programmes to prevent school-related gender-based violence and challenge gendered norms. Connect with Respect is an example of a curriculum-based approach in Southern and Eastern Africa and the Asia/Pacific region that aims to help students understand concepts such as gender-based violence and respectful relationships, assisting them in challenging harmful practices through practical learning activities. Access to comprehensive sexuality education as part of the curriculum is also critical to prevent school-related gender-based violence. The World Starts with Me programme in Uganda combines comprehensive sexuality education with learning IT skills targeted at in- and out-of-school youth.

Many years ago I was involved with developing a training module and a series of activities in Children’s Participation in Child Protection and these still might be worth a look. If children can be made aware of ways in which they can keep themselves and others safe, always be on the look out and have the confidence to call out bullies when they encounter them then we have a real chance of elimnating bullying as a problem.