The Ghana Education Service (GES) has officially launched a 16-day campaign aimed at tackling gender-based violence (GBV) in Senior High Schools (SHS) across the country.

The initiative, which focuses on creating safe spaces for both students and teachers, was inaugurated today under the theme “Safe Spaces, Empowered Voices: Ending Sexual Harassment in Our Schools.”

Cynthia Bosomtwe, a policy advisor and consultant for IPA Ghana, who chaired the event, emphasized that a comprehensive approach is necessary to eliminate GBV in schools. She called for advocacy, programs, policies, and regulations to be put in place to protect individuals, particularly women and girls.

“These regulations should aim at protecting the rights of individuals, especially women and girls. In Ghana, SGBV against women and girls is common in our homes, communities, and schools,” Bosomtwe stated. She further urged, “We need to rise up” to address the pervasive issue.

In his opening remarks, Steven Abamfo, the Greater Accra Regional Director of Education, shed light on the far-reaching effects of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) within educational environments. He highlighted how such violence strips individuals of their dignity and creates an unsafe learning environment. “It affects not only the individuals directly involved but also the entire school community by creating an atmosphere of fear,” Abamfo added.

The campaign comes on the heels of alarming findings from a report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Girls Excellent Movement (GEM). The report, titled Sheltered Yet Exposed, details the prevalence of sexual assault among female students in SHS from 2019 to 2021. According to the report, a staggering 51.9% of female students experienced sexual assault during this period. The report also shows that 54.3% of the victims were aged between 17 and 22, while 45.7% were between the ages of 11 and 16.

The perpetrators of these assaults varied, with friends being the most common offenders at 24%, followed by family friends (12%), schoolmates (12%), teachers (10%), and strangers (9%). The report also highlighted that beyond sexual assaults, female students in SHS endure other forms of gender-based violence, including physical assault, bullying, verbal abuse, and harassment.

The launch of the campaign was attended by development partners, including the National Teaching Council (NTC), UNICEF, and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), who are all working together to address this critical issue in Ghana’s education system.