Drive against sexual violence at schools as new session begins

KATHMANDU, April 16: To sensitize school girls to the need to raise their voices against gender-based discrimination and sexual violence, the government has launched a special awareness campaign at schools.

In a first of its kind, the Department of Education (DoE) has launched the awareness campaign that goes side by side with the two week-long school enrollment drive that begins Thursday, the first day of the new academic session.


DoE Director General (DG) Dilli Ram Rimal said that the campaign has been launched after finding that it is school girls who are mostly vulnerable to sexual violence.

Around eight million children of school-going age (half of them female) are thought to be in schools at present. But safety for all of them is not guaranteed, given that a police report finds the involvement of teachers or school/hostel staff themselves in the exploitation of children to be an increasing trend.

"Our general reading is that girls who are still growing are too suppressed to report about anything wrong that happens to them at school, at home or in public places. The campaign is an initiative to break their silence," said Rimal adding, "The serious trend of sexual violence at schools is also on the increase, but this can be stopped though our efforts."

The Nepal Police report suggests that more than 60 percent of rape victims are below 16, and most of them are school girls.

Specific research into the ongoing violence and discrimination is lacking in Nepal, said DoE Deputy Director Kamal Gyanwali. However, the office is coordinating various agencies for a comprehensive trend study focusing on schools.

"Going by the cases of sexual violence reported to police, we fear that the number of unreported cases could be far more alarming," Gyanwali added. "Boosting the confidence of girls to counter such incidents is our main target."

Last year's global report issued by UNICEF stated that sexual violence was so disturbing that no government or parent would want to see it. The report based on a study in 190 countries including Nepal stated that around 120 million girls worldwide under the age of 20, which is about one in 10, have experienced forced intercourse or other forced sexual acts.

To reach out to the students, the DoE has directed all its district-based offices to conduct public programs at school premises and at other local venues. Likewise, the district education offices have been directed to make sure that each and every school forms a gender unit to forster open discussion of the issue among students and teachers. Likewise, complaint boxes will have to be arranged at schools to hear from girls about the problem and to address it on time.

Since 2006, the government has been turning the new academic session into a grand event through its school enrollment drive. DoE data shows that children's access to school has climbed to 96.2 percent from 88 in the last seven years.

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