Parents send their children to school to learn, to become educated and with the hope that eventually they will have a better life than they did. Schools are meant to provide a conducive environment for learning – freedom from violence, discrimination and physical and emotional abuse, well trained teachers, textbooks and curricula free from biases, among other things.
And yet, over half of the world’s children – 1 billion girls and boys – have experienced violence in the past year, with much of that violence taking place in schools. Corporal punishment and violent discipline in schools continue to be pervasive in many contexts.
An estimated 852 million girls aged 15 and older have experienced some form of physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime, including at the hands of peers or teachers at school.
Data are not systematically collected on sexual harassment, violence and abuse perpetrated in and around school, nor on the impact of school violence on LGBTQI students and those with disability.
