South Africa has a history of very high levels of violence which
dates back to the apartheid era, if not further. A women is raped
every 35 seconds, estimates the South African Police Service.
Gender-based violence (GBV), and its link to HIV infection, is very
gradually being discussed in the public domain, but educators have no
choice but to provide learners with the basic skills to cope with the
dual threat of gender violence and HIV/AIDS now. But how, and when,
can this be done within an education system?
The vulnerability of young girls to sexual violence is best
illustrated by the findings of a recent study of 30,000 young people
conducted by Johannesburg Metropolitan Local Council and a local NGO,
the Community Information Empowerment and Transparency Foundation
(CIET). One in four of the men interviewed claimed to have had sex
without a girl's consent before the age of 18. At least half of those
interviewed ? male and female ? believe that forcing sex on someone
you know is not sexual violence, but that it is just 'rough sex'.
Over half the girls said they believe that they were responsible for
sexual abuse. To address this challenge the School of Public Health
at the University of the Western Cape developed a model to
incorporate the issue of gender-based violence into the primary
school curriculum.
Two training models - the 'whole school' approach and 'train the
trainer' were piloted in six primary schools in Mitchells Plain, Cape
Town. The models focused on identifying and challenging teachers' own
knowledge and attitudes towards gender and GBV, on encouraging
teachers to reflect on the messages they send to students, and on
identifying strategies to address GBV.
The project aimed to:
* enable educators to incorporate the issue of violence against
females into the primary school curriculum
* identify the capacity and support required within the Provincial
Education Department to ensure the model had a fair chance of
being implemented within provincial primary schools
* determine how the outcome of the pilot could contribute to the
development of similar programmes which address HIV/AIDS, 'life
skills', and safety within schools.
Findings from the pilot highlighted various avenues that require
further exploration:
* Prior to the training 30 percent of teachers felt that schools
could play a meaningful role in addressing GBV. After the
training 70 percent of teachers felt schools could play a
meaningful role.
* 85 percent of teachers felt that GBV was a significant problem in
their schools.
* 90 percent of teachers felt the school curriculum should include
content on GBV. Following the training, this figure increased to
100 percent.
* 95 percent teachers (pre-training), and 100 percent
(post-training) felt that Grade 5 (age 9-10 years old) is an
appropriate stage to begin addressing the issue of GBV.
26 teachers (17 women, 9 men) responded to a separate and optional
confidential questionnaire about their own experiences of GBV:
* Prior to the training, none of the teachers felt that the sexual
harassment of teachers was a problem and this did not change
following the training. However, 12 percent of women also said
they had experienced harassment from a colleague.
* 47 percent of women teachers reported experiencing physical abuse
at the hands of an intimate partner, 31 percent sexual abuse, and
69 percent psychological abuse.
* 25 percent of male teachers admitted that they had been
physically abusive, 12 percent sexually abusive, and 33 percent
psychologically abusive to an intimate partner.
It is important to recognise that teachers can be key instruments for
change. They are role models for school children but also have their
own experiences as gendered beings. To play an effective role in
addressing gender-based violence in schools, teachers need to
understand and confront their own attitudes and experiences regarding
gender and gender-based violence. The role of teachers as
perpetrators of abuse is highlighted in the most recent Human Rights
Watch Report on sexual violence in South African schools (see
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/safrica/). Strategies addressing GBV
in schools need to begin by acknowledging and addressing the
attitudes and experiences of the teachers themselves.
Ms Abigail Dreyer
Programme Officer for the Project: Developing a Model 'Gender and Conflict`
Component for the Primary School Curriculum
Tel#:(021) 959 2809
Fax#: (021) 959 2872
Cell #: 083 759 5477
Street Mail: School of Public Health, University of Western Cape, Private
Bag X17, Bellville, 7535
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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