With the support from UNGEI, UNESCO Jakarta recently hosted a groundbreaking stakeholder meeting to discuss SRGBV in Indonesia. Government officials joined with civil society to discuss the preliminary findings of a recent review “The Situation and Response Analysis on School-Related Gender Based Violence in Indonesia.” Participant included representatives from the Ministries of Health, Education, Social Affairs, Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, the National AIDS Commission, local NGOs and UN agencies.
The group considered how SRGBV affects outcomes in education, causes low self-esteem among students, impacts performance and attendance, and can lead to students dropping out. Participants discussed the nature and scope of SRGBV, its impacts, existing policies, programming and implementation responses and ultimately what needs to be done to prevent and address SRGBV in Indonesia. Bullying on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation was also included as a form of gender-based violence. The stakeholders discussed the challenges to protecting a child’s right to education and to health. Key findings included acknowledgement that programmes tend to address violence in schools rather than gender-based violence specifically; and certain policies discriminate against people on the basis of gender and sexual orientation.
The group agreed to meet regularly to drive an improved response to SRGBV. The next meeting, to be hosted by WHO, will discuss inclusion of SRGBV in the Global School-Based Health Survey.
Source: EAP UNGEI Newsletter no. 18, December 2014