The issue of gender-based violence in and around schools and other educational settings is important to education unions and their members. Everyone in schools – teachers, students, support personnel – can be perpetrator and victim.

School-Related Gender-Based Violence (SRGBV) is a violation of both the right to quality education and the right to decent working conditions. Given the alarming statistics on the prevalence of violence and harassment in educational settings, the time to act is now.

Over the last five years, Education International (global union of teachers) and its member organisations have demonstrated its commitment to ensuring SRGBV ends. Through the ‘Education unions take action to end SRGBV initiative’ of United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative, Education International and Gender at Work, the Labour Research Service supported nine teacher trade unions in seven African countries to design actions and strategies for confronting the challenges posed by SRGBV.  Empowering teachers to take ownership and develop their own strategies is a novel approach of addressing violence in institutions of learning. SRGBV is globally pervasive and intractable.

Strategies to End School-Related Gender-Based Violence: The Experience of Education Unions in Africa publication will inform and inspire teacher unions to test their own approaches to ending SRGBV. The document is also a valuable resource for other stakeholders that are keen to learn the unique strengths of teacher unions as partners in collective efforts to end SRGBV.