Education and training of women

Violence against women and girls can take place on their way to school or within educational institutions. According to a Report of the Secretary-General, in the United States, 83 per cent of girls in grades 8 through 11 (aged 12 to 16) have experienced some form of sexual harassment in public schools.

At the same time, education and training can play a significant role in changing harmful and discriminatory gender stereotypes that promote or condone violence against women and girls.

To address such issues, UN Women runs educational programmes to promote gender equality and women’s rights, revises formal school curricula and policies, and trains teachers, students and parents. We’ve also worked with partners to develop a non-formal educational curriculum against violence and educators, and youth leaders are currently being trained to deliver the curriculum in 12 countries.

China’s ‘left-behind girls’ learn self-protection

With China’s rapid economic growth, many parents are migrating to industrial cities for work, leaving their children behind and exposing China’s “left-behind girls” to heightened risks of sexual violence. Through a programme funded by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, UN Women has helped train 500 local teachers, 5,000 students and 2,200 guardians on awareness and prevention of child sexual abuse. 

Coming of age, youth become gender equality champions in Kyrgyzstan

With the support of UN Women, more than 40 students and several teachers from seven regions of Kyrgyzstan gathered in July 2014 to deepen their knowledge of gender equality. The project, sponsored by the UN Peacebuilding Fund, educates students and teachers about inequality, gender-based violence, violence against women, and crimes such as bride kidnapping and forced early marriage. A total of 15 sets of trainings for 200 peer educators and 80 teachers from 30 towns and villages throughout Kyrgyzstan are taking place throughout 2014.