Essential Gender-Based Violence Services and Prevention

We strengthened school-related gender-based violence prevention and response mechanisms in Malawi using a multisectoral approach with interventions at the individual, school, household, and community level. Our interventions sought to promote positive shifts in the underlying norms that perpetuate school-related gender based violence and reduce instances of violence.

National data indicates that 41% of girls ages 13-17 experience physical violence and 23% experience sexual violence; 15% have experienced sexual violence in school in Malawi. We targeted adolescent girls and young women with aims to reduce the incidence of school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) in secondary schools. We used a multisectoral approach that integrated interventions at the individual, school, household and community level by:

• Building the agency, self-esteem, and confidence of adolescent girls and boys to promote gender equality and to recognize and report gender-based violence.
• Working with teachers and school personnel to strengthen prevention and response mechanisms to reduce school violence, early marriage, and school drop-out.
• Strengthening caregiver commitment and capacity to prevent violence and support girls’ education through household economic strengthening and parenting skills.
• Enhancing community efforts to respond to GBV by training Mothers’ Groups in case management, engaging duty bearers, and increasing social accountability through “interface meetings.”

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