Safe learning environments: Preventing and addressing violence in and around school

Last update:18 October 2023

What is school violence?

School violence is widespread, occurs in all countries and affects a large number of children and adolescents. It refers to all forms of violence that takes place inside or outside of the classroom, around schools, on the way to or from school, as well as in online and other digital environments.

School violence is primarily experienced by learners, and it may be perpetrated by other learners, teachers or others in the school community.

Every month, one in three learners is bullied at school globally. Over 36% of learners experience a physical fight with their peers and almost one in three has been physically attacked at least once in a year. Cyberbullying is a growing problem, affecting as many as one in ten children. Whilst data on sexual or gender-based violence in school is difficult to collect, global data shows that one in four young women has already experienced violence by an intimate partner by the time they turn 24, indicating the presence of gender-based, or sexual violence, among school-aged children.

What forms can school violence take?

School violence refers to physical, psychological and sexual violence as conceptualized in the figure below. It can take a number of forms, which may include corporal punishment, sexual abuse and assault, bullying or cyberbullying, sexual comments, physical fighting and psychological violence by peers or adults such as harmful taunting, insults and exclusion or denial of resources.

How are learners’ education and lives affected by school violence?

We know that violence at school in all of its forms can have severe impacts and long-lasting consequences on learners’ physical and mental health as well as their education outcomes and in turn, their futures.

For example, bullying is associated with headaches, having trouble sleeping, depression and thoughts of suicide, as well as risky behaviours, such as drug use, smoking, drinking alcohol and unsafe sex. Sexual violence among adolescents can also lead to increased substance use, depression, and health issues such as unintended pregnancy, as well as higher likelihood of experiencing violence, or a perpetrating violence as an adult. Studies have also shown a correlation between bullying, school climate, and lower test scores in standardized tests, and bullying may be one of the main drivers of lower academic performance.

Because of its impact on learning, school violence is not only a children’s rights issue but also carries significant costs for education systems if left unaddressed.

How is UNESCO working to foster safer learning environments?

UNESCO supports the prevention of school violence in and through education, with an aim to foster safer learning environments for all learners.

We do so by applying a whole-school approach and aim to promote the active engagement of the entire education sector as a whole. This approach brings together complementary actions, and calls for the engagement of various stakeholders both within and outside of the school setting.

UNESCO supports countries and education systems to end school violence in all its forms through a number of complementary approaches:

Advocacy: For example, establishing and commemorating the International Day against Violence and Bullying at School including Cyberbullying (which takes place the first Thursday of November every year); leading and contributing to international partnerships and initiatives such as the Global working group to end school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV), Safe to Learn and the World Anti-Bullying Forum, among others.
Technical and programmatic work through for example the development of a Global guidance on addressing SRGBV, a series of thematic briefs for national action on SRGBV, and policy recommendations on ending bullying and cyberbullying, in particular.
Capacity building and support for country implementation of programmes to end school violence. For example, UNESCO highlighted the key role teachers in ending school violence and bullying and has equipped teachers to address SRGBV in West and Central Africa through trainings and teacher training manuals and lesson plans. In seven countries in Asia Pacific, and in Eastern and Southern Africa, UNESCO has supported the development and use of a classroom-based teaching tool called ‘Connect with Respect’ for learners aged 12-14 to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.
Knowledge management and dissemination by acting as co-chair of the Global working group to end SRGBV (see more below) and working, for example, with the UNESCO Chair on bullying and cyberbullying. UNESCO hosts regular regional learning symposia on SRGBV to promote sharing of good practice and lessons between governments, researchers and civil society across different countries.
Monitoring and evaluation of education sector responses to school violence, through the provision of technical guidance on the development of indicators. For example, UNESCO is collaborating with partners to link indicators measuring Violence Against Children to those measuring school violence and gender-based violence.

Why does gender matter when looking at school violence?

There are many factors that drive violence – gender is one of the significant drivers of violence in and around school. Learners of all genders may experience gender-based violence in and around schools, and this seriously hampers their education, their rights and their physical and mental health. With gender equality as its global priority, UNESCO is paying particular attention to the gendered dimensions of school violence.

Referred to as school-related gender-based violence, this form of violence includes acts or threats of sexual, physical or psychological violence occurring in and around schools, perpetrated as a result of harmful gender norms and stereotypes and enforced by unequal power dynamics. This is exacerbated by intersections of gender with constructs of ethnicity, culture, poverty and ability, incurring for example specific violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, including homophobic and transphobic bullying. Addressing school violence therefore requires an understanding of gender and deep-rooted patriarchal, social and cultural norms.

In the context of bullying, data shows that girls experience bullying as much as boys. However, the types of bullying girls and boys experience differ. Boys are much more exposed to physical bullying, and to physical violence in general, than girls. Girls are slightly more exposed to psychological bullying, particularly through cyberbullying, and increasingly to sexual bullying only. Sexual bullying (sexual jokes, comments and gestures) affects the same proportion of boys and girls. Physical sexual violence (assault, harassment and rape) can affect both boys and girls, but girls are more likely to be the victims of this kind of violence.

What is the Global working group to end SRGBV?

Under the leadership of UNESCO and the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI), a Global working group to end SRGBV was established in 2014 bringing together over 40 organizations committed to ending gender-based violence in and around schools.

As co-chair of the working group, UNESCO is committed to leveraging global advocacy and collaboration among partners on violence against children, violence in schools, violence against women and girls, and SRGBV in humanitarian contexts.