School-related GBV an irking phenomenon

Vaidah Mashangwa
IN Zimbabwe, the prevalence of all forms of violence against women and girls especially physical and sexual violence continue unabated. While Zimbabwe has a number of legal frameworks against Gender Based Violence, the Sadc Gender Protocol Barometer 2013, clearly states that sixty-eight percent of women in Zimbabwe have experienced some form of Gender Based Violence in their life time. On the other hand, 16 percent that is, one in 6 of all ever pregnant women were abused during pregnancy. In addition 75 percent of women in

Zimbabwe are raped by their husbands though women rarely report such cases.

As if this is not enough, violence against girls in Zimbabwean schools is also on the increase and this has marred the efforts that the government is making towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. Section 75 of the New Constitution also provides for the Right to Education and section 27 (2) states that the state should ensure that boys and girls are afforded the same opportunity to obtain education at all levels.

The girl-child may opt to stay away from school due to fear of violence hence denying the right to education. According to the Zimbabwean Demographic and Health Survey, 16 percent of the never married women who experienced physical violence since age 15 reported that the perpetrator was a teacher while 1.5 percent of those who experienced sexual violence below the age of 15 pointed the teacher as the perpetrator.

Most of these cases go unreported and it then becomes difficult to actually measure the extent of the School-Related Gender Based Violence.

According to Gender and Development Handbook Volume 22.1, most of the abuse happens on the way to and from schools and in teachers’ houses. Just as sexual abuse in tertiary institutions, some pupils accede to such abuse in exchange for marks or higher grades or for money and gifts. At times the children become further victims of abuse once they turn down the advances of such teachers. They are made subjects of ridicule and this consequently affects their overall performance in class. For fear of harassment by the teacher, the affected girls may simply drop out of school.

It must be noted that Zimbabwe continues to be one of the leading countries in Africa in terms of literacy. According to the Zimbabwe 2011 Labour Force Survey, the country’s literacy level is now 97 percent overall. The literacy rate for women is 97 percent while that of men stands at 98 percent. The government therefore has done its best to ensure that both girls and boys have access to school and the affirmative action has made it possible for girls to get enrolled in institutions of higher learning.

However, what is important is for governments including Zimbabwe to take stock of students’ experiences and opportunities once they enrol in any institution of learning. Schools should be institutions that are safe and free from violence so as to create a conducive environment for learning.

Distances from schools, lack of adequate physical structures in schools and attitudes of teachers towards school pupils all contribute in a way to School-Related Gender Based Violence. The Sunday News of  September 28 to October 4 carried a story of a school which has turned bedrooms into classrooms and surely what happens when a teacher sends a girl child to collect something or to do something from the so-called classroom cum bedroom.

While the teachers are guided by their code of conduct, School-Related Gender Based Violence continues to take its toll. International instruments such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child were ratified by Zimbabwe but School-Based Gender Based Violence remains a serious and pressing issue. At times this has culminated into unwanted pregnancies thereby affecting the completion rates in schools as some pregnant school girls opt to drop out of school completely without hope of re-joining the mainstream education system.

Any form of violence therefore knowingly or unknowingly perpetrated by the teachers, community members or other students presents major barriers to access to schooling, affect issues of gender equity and equality and infringes on the children’s right to education. All this should start with safe school environments whereby pupils move and learn freely without fear of any form of Gender-Based Violence.

What is particularly saddening is that most of the pupils who are raped are infected with HIV. In the Sunday Mail of September 28 to October 4, 2014, a 53-year- old man raped a six-year-old girl and was only sentenced to 12 years in jail. Recently in Bulawayo, a 12-year-old girl was gang- raped by three men including a neighbour but the main accomplice was given bail and the girl has since refused to go to school. This child is affected forever yet someone is enjoying freedom. This is the reason why women have been clamouring for stiffer sentences for perpetrators of gender based violence. Having realised the extent of the problem the government of Zimbabwe came up with the Inter-ministerial Committee on Rape and Sexual Abuse against Women and Girls as well as the action plan to be implemented nationwide.

Children deserve particular protection considering their level of vulnerability. There is need therefore to integrate School-Related Gender Based Violence into the school based programmes and also to ensure that teachers are trained to handle such cases when children report them. The Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development has also drawn action plans targeting awareness campaigns in schools, churches, work places, tertiary institutions and traditional leaders.

Countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Ethiopia, Malawi, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone and Liberia met in 2009 and 2010 also to discuss country-based School-Related Gender Based Violence programmes and this shows the urgency to address the issue. There is also need for behaviour change among the teachers and to provide safe learning environments especially for girls so as to increase enrolments and retention levels of girls.

 Vaidah Mashangwa is the Provincial Development Officer in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Bulawayo. She can be contacted on 0772111592 email [email protected]