Making schools safer for youth at risk of gender-based violence
Background
Each year, nearly 250 million children experience gender-based violence (GBV) in or around schools, according to UNESCO. In many low- and middle-income countries, this violence—alongside gender-based oppression and stigma—prevents too many young people from completing their education. The harm is especially severe for students who are seen as “different,” such as pregnant or parenting girls, young people with disabilities, gender-non-conforming youth, and adolescents who identify as—or are perceived to be—LGBTQ+.
Project learning products
Too often, the stigma and violence these students face go unseen by school leaders, and their impact on education remains overlooked. This project aims to change that by centering youth voices and testing bold solutions to make schools safer and more inclusive.
Objective
This three-year project aims to deepen understanding and evaluate solutions to reduce GBV and discrimination in secondary schools in Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mali. The goal: To collect crucial evidence on the experiences of adolescents known to face higher rates of GBV and discrimination (pregnant/ parenting girls, people with disabilities, and gender non-conforming youth), and then to co-develop scalable, evidence-based approaches that make schools more supportive of every learner’s right to education.
The project tests a range of solutions, such as inclusive policies, teacher workshops, and tech tools that challenge harmful norms—and assesses their potential to scale. Centering young people as co-designers, it also engages educators and policymakers to explore what helps or hinders safe, inclusive schools. Findings will be shared widely to inform national and regional education policies.
Background
Each year, nearly 250 million children experience gender-based violence (GBV) in or around schools, according to UNESCO. In many low- and middle-income countries, this violence—alongside gender-based oppression and stigma—prevents too many young people from completing their education. The harm is especially severe for students who are seen as “different,” such as pregnant or parenting girls, young people with disabilities, gender-non-conforming youth, and adolescents who identify as—or are perceived to be—LGBTQ+.
Too often, the stigma and violence these students face go unseen by school leaders, and their impact on education remains overlooked. This project aims to change that by centering youth voices and testing bold solutions to make schools safer and more inclusive.
Our approach
The project uses mixed-methods research—including surveys, interviews, focus groups and participatory mapping—to explore how GBV and discrimination impact education, health, and well-being among adolescents. It also assesses a range of solutions: from school and national policies that promote inclusion, to values clarification workshops that shift harmful beliefs, to digital tools that expand access to affirming information.
Young people are at the center of this work—helping inform and design innovations to make schools safer and more supportive. Their voices are complemented by insights from teachers, school leaders, and policymakers to better understand what enables or blocks progress toward inclusive education systems.
Each innovation is evaluated for impact and potential to scale. The most promising policy and practice innovations will be piloted and evaluated in schools. These may include school-level inclusion policies, tech-based peer support systems, or educator training. A scalability assessment will identify which innovations could be adapted and scaled in other contexts
Findings will be shared widely through advocacy campaigns and policy dialogues at international, national and regional levels—amplifying youth voices and centering equity in education systems.
This project is led by a multi-country consortium made up of Ipas staff from Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Mali and the United States, and academic partners from two African universities: Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, and École de Sante Publique de Kinshasa.
This work was supported by the Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange, a joint endeavor with the International Development Research Centre, Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the IDRC or its Board of Governors.
For more information on this project, please reach out to Grace Sheehy, Technical Research Advisor, or Mike Mpoyi, Project Manager.