Schools in sub-Saharan Africa tolerate serious sexual harassment and abuse, most of it perpetrated by older male pupils and male teachers. Why is the school a violent place for girls? How does school culture encourage gender violence? In the light of the AIDS crisis, sexual violence against young girls needs to be vigorously tackled.

This special issue of Insights is part of an effort to break the conspiracy of silence on this most serious of human rights violations, one which exposes young people to a range of abusive institutionalised practices. Children are frequently abused in the very place where they should feel most safe, sometimes by those entrusted with their care - namely teachers and principals. Yet the silence and denial surrounding abuse is deafening. It is difficult to accept that the school is a site of abuse rather than a haven against abuses perpetrated elsewhere. Sexual abuse in schools is not a new phenomenon, nor an exclusively African problem. What is new is that it is finally being researched in Africa. Talking about abuse widely - in the community, in schools and within homes, and implementing policies and strategies to stamp it out are the vital next steps.

This ID21 initiative is linked to an on-going study funded by DFID on the abuse of girls in schools in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Ghana. The research is investigating the extent and nature of abuse, disseminating key findings and recommendations, and trialing strategic interventions. Reports for this issue come from South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Ghana (see Insights #35 for a report from Namibia). Statistics are hard to come by, but in all these countries it is clear that the sexual abuse of girls is widespread, institutionalised and pervasive. Sexual abuse of male pupils by male and female teachers and of female teachers by male pupils probably also exists, though much less widespread and almost totally un-researched.

Important findings from the research are:

• Sexual abuse of girls by male pupils and teachers is accepted, along with corporal punishment, verbal abuse and bullying, as an inevitable part of much school life. It exploits unequal power relations and the authoritarian ethos within schools.
• The reluctance of education authorities to address the issue and to prosecute perpetrators allows abuse to flourish unchecked. By their inaction, authorities condone and encourage it. Male teachers who openly pursue sexual liaisons with girls are indicating to boys that such behaviour is acceptable. Fear of abusive teachers and mistrust of other staff who turn a blind eye prevents pupils from reporting incidents.
• Sexual abuse of girls in school is a reflection of gender violence and inequality in the wider society. Domestic violence against women and children is commonplace, as is rape and forced sex within relationships. Women are considered as ‘belonging’ to men and hence accorded lower value and status.
• The rapid spread of HIV/AIDS has increased girls’ vulnerability to sexual abuse by ‘sugar daddies’ and by male teachers, relatives and neighbours. The myth that AIDS can be cured by having sex with a virgin exposes girls as young as six to rape. Gifts, money and promises of marriage lure teenage girls into sexual relationships that put them at risk of HIV infection.

Addressing sexual abuse in schools is an important human rights issue and a tool in the fight against HIV infection and AIDS. It is also crucial in the struggle to achieve universal primary education. Progress over the past decade on meeting the Education For All (EFA) targets set at Jomtien in 1990 has been disappointing; in some African contexts, the gender gap in enrolments is widening. Why, despite all the public commitments and policy statements, has progress been so slow? Part of the answer must lie in the nature of the schooling experience itself - ignored in the haste to expand school places. Even responses to high dropout rates, especially among girls, and to poor learning outcomes have looked to formal aspects of schooling (such as teacher preparation, classroom teaching, school management) for answers, rather than to informal school practices. The articles in this issue help explain this oversight.

The comprehensive Human Rights Watch report on sexual violence in South African schools documents the chilling scale and nature of the violence, its effects on children’s education and the education authorities’ responses to reported cases. George’s article focuses on sexual abuse by teachers of their female pupils. The authors recommend that the South African government urgently implement a national policy on how to deal with sexual violence in schools. A national plan of action should include wide scale dissemination of standard procedural guidelines governing how schools address allegations and treat victims of violence. Only when perpetrators are punished in the courts, and schools enforce disciplinary measures, will the message be understood.

Research in the north has shown how both the school culture and societal influences are instrumental in the construction of masculine and feminine identity. Two articles here look at this in the African context. The Zimbabwe study by Leach and Machakanja reveals that the peer group culture places great pressure on boys and girls to conform to male and female stereotypes at a time when their sexual identities are still developing. Wood and Jewkes vividly illustrate how excessive control and violence in adolescent sexual relationships in a South African township are integral to male identity.

Mirembe highlights the inherent contradiction of trying to promote adolescent sexual health through the school curriculum in Uganda, with its messages about the importance of negotiated sex, equal partnership and the freedom to say ‘no’, when the school culture clearly promotes male domination and leadership. Kadzamira and Swainson suggest ways in which schooling in Malawi might successfully change teachers’ and learners’ behaviour.

Training and awareness raising are crucial in the fight to stamp out gender violence. One example of an initiative to train educators is provided here. 'Open Our Eyes' is a training module developed for South Africa but of relevance to other African contexts.

We need to recognise the complex set of issues involved in gender violence in schools. Tackling it requires concerted efforts at all levels, including the need for:

• governments to initiate media and community-based campaigns around abuse that link up with human rights, social exclusion and HIV/AIDS prevention initiatives
• ministries to ensure that professional codes of conduct are enforced and offenders prosecuted quickly and severely
• schools to promote a more supportive culture by facilitating the reporting of abuse, curbing bullying and corporal punishment, providing effective counselling, and encouraging constructive and equal relationships between pupils and positive role modelling
• teacher training curricula to provide awareness raising around abuse and gender issues
• communities and families to work closely with schools, ministries and NGOs to tackle violence in the home, within communities, and in schools.

id21 Research Highlight: 16 July 2001

Further Information:
Fiona Leach
Centre for International Education
University of Sussex Institute of Education
Brighton
BN1 9RG
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1273 678256
Fax: +44 (0)1273 678568
Contact the contributor: f.e.leach@sussex.ac.uk

Centre for International Education, UK

Other related links:
'Criminal justice? Tackling sexual abuse in schools'

'The sugar daddy trap. Peer pressure pushes girls into sex'

'Dangerous game of love? Challenging male machismo'

'Mixed Messages'

'Risky behaviour: can education help?'

'Child abuse by teachers in Zimbabwe'

'Safe haven for girls: can teachers challenge gender violence?'