At school, children learn about the world around them. They learn how to relate to and interact with others, and how to conduct themselves. This socialization starts early in a person’s life, where children typically begin attending school in their toddler years. Moreover, some people enter into their first intimate relationship with someone they met at school. Given this, schools represent an important setting for engaging in critical thinking, discussion and action on violence against women and girls.
Unfortunately, schools are often where children and young adults can also be exposed to different forms of violence, including physical, sexual, and psychological violence perpetrated by other students as well as teachers, and other adults. In fact, more than 246 million children are subjected to violence in or around schools every year. Girls and young women comprise most of the victims and survivors of this violence. Thus, implementing gender-transformative school-based programming that prevents violence against women and girls is of utmost importance.