Child Safety and Protection -Safe Schools
This programme is aimed at ensuring child safety in schools. The Fund has drawn on its experience in this area and from various subject matter specialists.
The violence in schools manifests itself in numerous forms such as corporal punishment, bullying and sexual abuse. The reliable information on violence in schools did not exist till 2008 when the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention (CJCP) did the research. The follow up research was done in 2012 on corporal punishment and sexual abuse in schools at national level. While Gauteng reduced corporal punishment during the same period other provinces such as Kwazulu Natal, Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga saw an increase on the incidences of corporal punishment.
The violence in schools manifests itself in numerous forms such as corporal punishment, bullying and sexual abuse. The reliable information on violence in schools did not exist till 2008 when the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention (CJCP) did the research. The follow up research was done in 2012 on corporal punishment and sexual abuse in schools at national level. While Gauteng reduced corporal punishment during the same period other provinces such as Kwazulu Natal, Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga saw an increase on the incidences of corporal punishment.
The study further says high incidences in schools of sexual abuse remain unreported making it difficult to deal with the problem at the school level when perpetrators are educators or well respected members of the community. The report stipulates that Bullying is quite high in schools and since it’s not classified as criminal offence, it leaves serious emotional scars to the victim and at times leads to school drop outs. While other two offences can be dealt with legally through legislative framework, bullying needs interventions that attempts to prevent and work with both survivor and perpetrator.
- In 2008, 70.1% of primary school students reported they had experienced corporal punishment at school compared to 47.5% of secondary school students
- Males and females are equally likely to report
- Gauteng has seen the largest improvement, while the situation in KZN and Mpumalanga has deteriorated severely
The study further says high incidences in schools of sexual abuse remain unreported making it difficult to deal with the problem at the school level when perpetrators are educators or well respected members of the community. The report stipulates that Bullying is quite high in schools and since it’s not classified as criminal offence, it leaves serious emotional scars to the victim and at times leads to school drop outs. While other two offences can be dealt with legally through legislative framework, bullying needs interventions that attempts to prevent and work with both survivor and perpetrator.
- One third of perpetrators of rape were educators
- Only just over a half of secondary school learners who were sexually abused reported the incident
- Of those who did not report:
- 34% did not think it important to report
- 19% were too embarrassed
- 17% were too scared
- 2% of primary school principals reported sexual violence perpetrated by educators
Programme Roll out.
Based on the research findings, the programme will target provinces with high incidences of corporal punishment, sexual abuse and bullying which are mainly Kwa Zulu Natal, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape, North West and Limpopo. The target groups will be survivors, perpetrators, educators and school governing bodies. In the past the Fund has implemented a programme called Sexual Violence in Schools in South Africa (SeVISSA) which empowers girls in schools to deal with issues of violence with particular attention to sexual violence. The SeVissa project is operational in the four provinces of Limpopo, Gauteng, Eastern Cape and Western Cape.
In the new strategy the Child Safety and Protection programme will focus on the main three violence occurrences in schools with the provinces of Mpumalanga and Kwazulu Natal as the latest additions.
Since inception the Fund has created a comprehensive response which puts family and community at the centre in the fight against sexual violence, safety in schools and exploitation of girls in schools.
The Fund will continue to work with organisations that rehabilitate perpetrators; especially focusing on the young perpetrators with an intent to break the circle of violence. Furthermore the Fund will also spearhead efforts that support children who have witnessed sexual or corporal punishment in schools. Psychosocial support training will be provided for organisations that are working with learners, educators, parents and other civil society organisation which allow them to identify abuse in schools.
The programme’s objectives are follows:
- To promote healthy relationships between educators, learners and parents
- To support schools in creating a safer environment for learning and teaching
- To support initiatives that intend to create safety nets for children in and out of school at different levels
- To ensure that perpetrators of bullying, sexual abuse, corporal punishment are brought to book
- To ensure that relevant authorities act swiftly on issues of abuse against children
