Description
Institutions can conduct teacher trainings on sexual harassment and violence at various educational levels. For example, the Safe School Program’s Doorways III developed for USAID’s Office of Women in Development and the Projet d’Appui à l’Enseignement Moyen (PAEM) in Senegal took place at the middle (upper primary) school level. In conjunction with other interventions such as community mobilization, PAEM trained hundreds of teachers and supervisors on the Doorways III curriculum, which included topics such as “basic counseling and skills, children’s rights and responsibilities, teaching practices and attitudes that promote a safe learning environment, and how to prevent and respond to school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) incidents. In addition, the training underscore[s] the importance of educators understanding and following the Teachers’ Code of Conduct.” Similarly, PAEM used various curricula, including versions of the Doorways curriculum, to train teachers in Senegal on attitudes and behaviors, safe learning environments, concepts of sex and gender, human rights, types of violence, teachers’ roles, and practices and strategies. In South Africa, the University of the Western Cape’s School of Public Health developed a pilot module on gender-based violence. The school used two training approaches, with one type focusing on developing peer trainers and one type taking a broader “whole school” focus that included the principal and administrative and support staff.
Teachers can also be trained to serve as advisors or guardians. The TANESA Project in Tanzania established a female guardians (mlezi) program to reduce the “exploitation of school girls from sexual harassment, forced sexual relationships and rape.” Other program objectives were reducing pregnancy rates and preventing the expulsion of pregnant students. The program features female “teachers chosen by their colleagues [who are] trained to give advice in cases of sexual violence or harassment and other matters related to sexual and reproductive health.” Trainings last for one day and cover issues including sexual and reproductive health, counseling techniques, and reporting procedures.
Implementation lessons learned
These practices have the potential to assist students to find the information, resources, and support needed to deal with incidents of sexual harassment. Institutional leadership, commitment, and buy-in are key components of making these practices successful, as is post-training follow-up to reinforce the training content. In terms of curricular content, including content on legal protections against sexual and gender-based violence is important to ensure that teachers can provide appropriate advice and resources.
Additional information: Teacher Training PDF | Female Guardians PDF