Ei-iE

The 10th Education International (EI) World Congress, meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 29 July to 2 August, believes that:

1. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5), which focuses on gender equality and empowering all women and girls and ensuring schools are free from violence and all forms of discrimination, is crucial for creating a more just and equitable world. Discrimination exposes these learners and adults to Gender Based Violence (GBV) more acutely and violates their right to education free from discrimination.
2. When girls feel safe and supported in educational settings, they are more likely to stay in school, excel academically, and pursue higher education and career opportunities. The psychological scars left by GBV and School Related Gender Based Violence (SRGBV) often follow learners throughout their lives.
3. Social arrangements and difficult circumstances, such as wars and natural disasters, exacerbate gender-based violence. The periods of widespread lockdowns during the Covid-19 Pandemic witnessed a dramatic surge in all the world making GBV and SRGBV the ‘other Pandemic”.
4. Educators, as members of society the world over, are impacted by the scourge of Gender Based Violence in various ways including on their central role of teaching.
5. Physical or mental harassment and violence in the online environment, in the workplace itself or during travels to and from work are key concerns for women educators.

Congress recognises that:

6. School Related Gender Based Violence is manifest in many countries and communities and is normed by patriarchal communities with increased SRGBV occurring in schools that have hostel facilities as well as mentally and physically challenged learners who struggle to communicate when they are victims of SRGBV and perpetrators more likely not being held accountable due to lack of evidence.
7. The strategies on how to address and curb GBV differs from country to country with few able to fully address this silent, behind closed-doors abuse. Multi-stakeholder approaches, including community involvement through various interactive media have shown promise in shifting societal attitudes and perceptions regarding violence against women and girls.
8. Affirming the school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) affects millions of children and education personnel worldwide each year, and is defined as including acts or threats of sexual, physical or psychological violence that takes place in or around schools and educational settings as well as on the way to and from school; and that SRGBV includes acts of bullying (including cyber-bullying), sexual or verbal or physical harassment, non-consensual touching, rape and assault.
9. Affirming the SRGBV is distinct from violent political and military attacks on educational facilities, on students and on educators and education support personnel, but that SRGBV often increases in conflict-affected countries and during emergencies.

Congress declares that:

10. It is not possible to deliver quality education without addressing the issues of child protection and staff safety in educational settings, as well as on the way to educational settings, given that young children, women and LGBTQIA+ persons are particularly vulnerable.
11. GBV and SRGBV are detrimental and severely limiting on students and pupils traumatised by this abhorrent behaviour.
12. Schools and teachers have a pivotal educational role and responsibility to educate students and pupils against accepting or perpetrating this type of violence.
13. According to the Istanbul Convention, men and boys are obligated to take action to prevent and combat gender-based violence against women and girls.
14. It is the responsibility of education authorities and schools to champion behavioural change in men and boys to be part of the solution in preventing and combating GBV and SRGBV against women, girls, and vulnerable groups.
15. Domestic violence, as stipulated in the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention (No. 190), can have repercussions on employment, productivity and the health and safety of staff, students and pupils
16. SRGBV and GBV must be universally outlawed in law and practice.
17. Students and pupils free from fear, trauma, and environments that harbour and protect perpetrators is the ideal we should all strive towards. (Addressing gender-based violence and discrimination in schools creates a positive ripple effect beyond the classroom. It helps break the cycle of violence and promotes healthier relationships and attitudes towards gender equality in society at large.)
18. Achieving SDG 5 is not just a moral imperative; it's a strategic investment in a more sustainable and prosperous future for all. By prioritising the rights and well-being of women and girls, we can build more inclusive and resilient societies where everyone is able to thrive.

Congress calls on EI and all member organisations to:

19. Champion and initiate programmes to address SRGBV in all schools and school environments.
20. Actively pressurise education authorities to initiate programmes to counsel and assist victims as well as perpetrators of SRGBV.
21. Initiate programs to empower women and girls on the utilisation of information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women (SDG5, Target #5b).
22. Pressurise governments to ratify the ILO Convention 190 in order to make teachers aware of their rights to rise against harassment and violence in the workplace.
23. Persuade/challenge its governments to develop a Code of Good Practice that seeks to align national existing laws with the ILO Convention 190 and recommendations.
24. Work to mitigate its impact in schools as workplaces, as provided for in Convention 190.
25. Ensure schools and education centres have procedures in place for handling cases of violence and sexual harassment, and preventative measures to ensure that they are in line with ILO Convention C190.
26. Strategies to challenge violence should be intersectional to ensure all educators and learners are protected, including LGBTQIA+ educators and learners. Strategies should also engage men and boys positively to be part of solutions.

Congress mandates the Executive Board to:

27. Affirm calls on governments, as those primarily responsible for safety and security in education institutions, to provide a well-defined legal and policy framework outlining the state’s obligations to prevent SRGBV and promote child protection and protection of education personnel across all relevant government ministries and impose on education ministries, and their partners, an obligation to include teachers and educators’ unions and organisations in establishing sustainable and holistic mechanisms, for preventing and responding to, SRGBV in all educational settings.
28. Conduct or Commission research to understand the challenges and to develop approaches to address the prevention of SRGBV around the world.
29. Develop a programme for inter-union capacity development focusing on effective, practical programmes for both victims and perpetrators of SRGBV, that will have a positive impact on their futures and enhance their chances for a positive school life.
30. Affirm collaboration with UN agencies and other strategic civil society partners working on SRGBV issues at national, regional and global levels to ensure that the knowledge, experiences and perspectives of teachers, educators and education support personnel consistently informs and is reflected in such work.