School-Related Gender-Based Violence Measurement Toolkit

These gender norms and practices are often carried out and reinforced in schools, resulting in a school climate that can perpetuate inequalities, normalize violence, and compromise students' opportunities to learn. The SRGBV Measurement Toolkit is a resource for researchers interested in understanding the prevalence and extent of SRGBV, and in learning more about potential risk factors and drivers of SRGBV within the local context. The toolkit provides a conceptual framework for measuring SRGBV, a school-based survey for measuring experiences of SRGBV, risk factors, and drivers, as well as practical guidance for implementing the survey. The conceptual framework for measuring SRGBV uses an integrated child-centered socio-ecological model to provide a better understanding of the types and extent of violence that children experience at school. This model recognizes that multiple, interrelated factors at the individual, family, and school levels shape violent behavior towards children. The framework includes three broad types of SRGBV: bullying and other forms of non-sexual intimidation, corporal punishment, and sexual violence. Bullying and other forms of non-sexual intimidation are defined as any non-sexual form of intimidation intended to harm, either psychologically or physically. The behavior is repeated, or could be repeated, over time. Bullying is perpetrated by peers, teachers, other school staff, and persons encountered on the way to and from school, in school dormitories, in cyberspace, or through cell phone technology. Corporal punishment is defined as any form of psychological or physical violence that involves the deliberate infliction of physical pain or humiliation to discipline or to reform a student, or to deter attitudes or behaviors deemed unacceptable or inappropriate. Perpetrated by teachers or other school officials against students, corporal punishment can include striking a student with an object, directly striking a student, or forcing a student to adopt uncomfortable positions or humiliating postures for long periods of time. Sexual violence is defined as a psychological or physical act of harassment or abuse by an adult or another child through any form of unwanted or forced sexual activity wherein there is no consent, consent is not possible, or power and intimidation is used to coerce a sexual act. Sexual violence includes unwanted touching of any kind, rape, or the use of children in commercial sexual exploitation or in audio and visual images. The SRGBV Measurement Toolkit includes a survey to measure all forms of SRGBV, specifically bullying, corporal punishment, and sexual violence. The survey helps identify and measure the risk factors and drivers of SRGBV, such as gender attitudes and beliefs, school climate, and teacher disciplinary practices. The toolkit is intended to provide a resource for researchers and practitioners to design evidence-informed programs, evaluate SRGBV factors during situation analyses, or evaluate entire programs.