Managing sexual violence and abuse in schools

1
Managing sexual violence and abuse in schools

• Presentation to Portfolio Committee
• 19 February 2002

2
Nature and extent of problem

• Old problem on which there has been a deafening
  silence
• Persistent inequities between males and females
• Advent of democracy and the new constitution
  helping to change conditions for acknowledgement,
  hence the growth in incidents reported

3
Key challenges facing the system

• Sexual harassment
• Inappropriate relationships between learners and
  teachers
• Rapes and other forms of sexual violence or abuse
• Reluctance/inability of learners or female
  teachers to speak out and report on these matters

4
Key challenges facing the system

• Tardiness by schools in dealing with reported
  cases
• Lack of support structures and systems
• Damage to the profession at the increase in
  reported cases of inappropriate conduct by some
  teachers

5
Current interventions

• Life Skills focus in Curriculum 2005 to develop
  in learners the necessary skills, knowledge,
  values and attitudes
• Immediate dismissal of teachers for sexual abuse
  of learners amendment to the Employment of
  Educators Act of 1998
• Signposts to Safe Schools joint project with
  SAPS, intended to provide schools with strategies
  to address violence in schools and improve the
  impact, authority and efficiency of school
  management and school services
• Managing Sexual Harassment and Gender-based
  Violence a module for teachers, developed with
  the assistance of CIDA
• Addressing Gender Equity in Education a handbook
  for teachers

6
Strategies to strengthen impact on system

• Two-pronged strategy to be adopted from 2002
• Dedicated campaign in 2002 to restore public
  confidence in our ability to protect children
  from abuse
• Intensify our educational processes particularly
  in relation to teachers

7
Campaign to restore public confidence

• Blow the whistle on the education system to
  encourage communities to report incidents of
  abuse in schools and failure of education
  officials to deal with reported cases
• Establishment of special task team to ensure and
  monitor the implementation of existing policies
  to address abuse in schools
• Establishment of school support teams to provide
  face to face counseling for both learners and
  educators who have been abused
• A self-defense project in all the nodal areas to
  empower all learners and teachers physically and
  emotionally so they can protect themselves

8
Educational processes for teachers

• Review current preservice and in-service
  curricular and programmes to ensure preparation
  of teachers on
• Human rights education
• Gender sensitivity
• Ethics in the teaching profession
• Educators as care givers