Schools are places for children to
learn and grow. But many girls all over the world go to school fearing for
their safety, dreading humiliating and violent treatment, simply hoping to get
through another day.

Schools reflect wider society. The same forms of violence which women suffer
throughout their lives – physical, sexual and psychological – are present in
the lives of many girls in and around their schools.

Every day, girls face being assaulted on their way to school, pushed and hit in
school grounds, teased and insulted by their classmates, humiliated by having
rumours about them circulated through whisper campaigns, mobile phones or the
Internet. Some are threatened with sexual assault by other students, offered
higher marks by teachers in exchange for sexual favours, even raped in the
staff room. Some are caned or beaten in school in the name of discipline.

In countries racked by war, some girls are seized by armed groups, and some are
injured or killed on their journey to school or when schools are attacked.
Sexual abuse and exploitation are particular problems for girls living in
refugee or displaced people’s camps.

Violence against girls takes place in
and around many educational institutions all over the world. It is inflicted
not only by teachers, but also by administrators, other school employees,
fellow students and outsiders. The result is that countless girls are kept out
of school, drop out of school, or do not fully participate in school.

 SOURCE: WUNRN