The Status of Girls’ Education and Violence Coast Province ... · The Status of Girls’...

The Status of Girls’ Education and Violence in Wenje Division, Tana River District of the Coast Province - Kenya

A Baseline Survey Report

STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST GIRLS IN SCHOOL PROJECT

Published By Stop Violence Against Girls in Schools

ActionAid International KenyaAACC Building, Waiyaki WayP.O Box 4281400100 – NairobiKenya

Telephone: +254 (02) 4440440/4/9Fax: +254 (02) 4445843Email: [email protected]

© 2011 ActionAid International Kenya

Table of ContentsForeword................. .......................................................... vAcknowledgments ...........................................................VIIExecutive Summary ..........................................................X

1: Introduction To The Baseline Study ............................. 1

1.1 Introduction .........................................................11.2 Background to the Study ......................................11.3 Project Partnership ...............................................21.4 The Aims of the Baseline Study ............................31.5 Key Research Questions .......................................31.6 Methodological Issues .........................................3

1.6.1. Research Preparations ...............................31.6.2 Sampling ..................................................51.6.3 Ethical Issues ............................................51.6.4 Research Teams’ Selection and Training ....71.6.5 Data Analysis ............................................71.6.6 Limitations ................................................8

2: Context Of Gender And Education In Kenya And Wenje: Challenges And Opportunities For Redressing Gender Issues...................... .................................................... 10

2.1 Introduction .......................................................102.2 The Kenyan Context ...........................................10

2.2.1 Education and School participation of Girls and Boys in Kenya ..................................12

2.2.2 Gender and Violence against Women and Girls in Kenya .........................................18

2.2.3 The District Context: Tana River ..............30

3: Analysis Of Gender And Education ............................ 27

3.1 Introduction .......................................................273.2 Gender Profi les of Enrolment and Attendance ....273.2 Gender Profi le of Progression in Basic Education ...303.3 Gender Profi le of Performance In National Examinations .....................................................333.4 Challenges Girls Face in Wenje ....................... 343.5 Factors Pushing/Pulling Girls out of School ........363.6 Teachers’ Profi le and Limited Female Role Models. .............................................................403.7 School Environment ...........................................423.8 Attitudes to Gender Roles in School ...................47

4: Violence Against Girls In Schools And Communities .544.1 Introduction .......................................................544.2 Patterns of Physical Violence ..............................544.3 Patterns of Sexual Violence ................................544.4 Patterns of Psychological Violence .....................594.5 Meanings of Violence ........................................644.6 Perceptions on Violence.....................................674.7 Girls’ Attitudes to Gender Based Violence ..........70

5: Challenging Violence .................................................. 725.1 Introduction .......................................................725.2 Challenging Violence .........................................725.3 Outcomes of Actions Taken by Girls in Response to

Violence ............................................................765.4 Pupils’ Satisfaction With Handling of Most Serious .

Incident of Violence ...........................................77

6.0 Conclusions and Recommendations .................... 86

7.0 References ........................................................... 93

8.0 Appendices .......................................................... 97

Appendix 1: Those who Participated in /or supported the Study

Appendix II: Conceptual Framework and Research Protocol Document

Appendix III: Defi nition of TermsAppendix IV: National level socio-economic and data/

indicatorsAppendix V: Additional schools participation data in

Wenje division

v

ForewordThe Stop Violence against Girls in School Project is a multi-country fi ve-year project, running simultaneously in Kenya, Ghana and Mozambique from July 2008 to June 2013 and fi nanced by the Big Lottery Fund, UK. The project seeks to empower an estimated fourteen thousand girls (14 000) to challenge the culture of violence in and around schools and report incidents and create peer support networks. Violence against girls in schools is not only a violation of girls’ fundamental human rights but also poses a huge challenge to countries committed to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and the Education for All by 2015 as well as targets set in the national plans of action.

At the centre of our concern are the agency, judgment and action of girls in and around schools. While we seek to understand the social conditions and relations that constrain girls, we aim to understand the processes through which girls enhance their capabilities to safety and bodily integrity, and more broadly to claim rights, achieve education, and to work to transform unjust structures. ActionAid understands empowerment as developing girls’ individual and collective agency, through: raising critical consciousness of rights and unjust structures and power relations that suppress rights and self-effi cacy; developing capabilities (such as decision making, self esteem and negotiation skills) that enable girls to make decisions that shape their world and feel in control

of their destiny; through building support, solidarity and networks.

The conceptual framework for this project builds on ActionAid’s work on education and women rights. At the centre of the project are girls themselves, and their everyday relationships with other girls and boys, with families, with teachers and with others in their communities. While much violence experienced by girls takes place within these relationships, schools, families and neighbourhoods are also important sites for teaching and learning about safety and empowerment. With a central focus on girls and interactions, we are concerned with the gendered power relations in which girls live their lives, where aspects of the local, national, regional and global political economy produce violence and limit their space for action within families, schools and communities. Finally we are concerned to document the types and levels of acts of violence experienced by girls, since this information can be valuable to signal change. By combining these approaches; we can begin to understand why and how change may be happening.

AAIK takes this opportunity to acknowledge OWN and Associates Centre for Research and Development the research Partner who carried out the research in collaboration with the Institute of Education, at the University of London

The Status of Girls’ Education and Violence in Wenje Divisionvi

UK. Contributions made by AAIK staff among them Florence Kinyua, the National Project Manager and Sheikh Maro the Project Offi cer are hereby appreciated. Our staff in our fi eld and regional offi ces who made the work successful are also appreciated. We wish to also thank our Community and Advocacy partner, the Girl Child Network for contributing to the study. We also acknowledge the Big Lottery Fund for funding the Stop Violence Against Girls in School Project.

Lastly, given the outcomes noted in this report, we urge all our esteemed partners, the Government of Kenya, donors and all key stakeholders to consider using this

document in establishing proper mechanisms for ensuring safe environments both at school and community so as to promote girls’ education. We hope that through this study, focus on Violence Against Girls and Children would be put at the forefront so as to eradicate the gendered inequalities that prevent girls from enjoying their right to, in and through education.

Jean N. KamauCountry Director,ActionAid International Kenya

vii

AcknowledgmentsMany institutions, community groups and individuals are fully acknowledged for their specifi c contributions to the successful fi nalization of this baseline study. First of all, we wish to acknowledge The Big Lottery Fund UK for funding this project that that will empower girls in Wenje Division and improve the lives of many Kenyans. We also wish to thank our partners Action Aid and Girl Child Network (GCN) for their support and encouragement. Special thanks go to Florence Kinyua – National Project Manager, AAIK, for her efforts in facilitating the study and providing valuable logistical support and technical comments at different stages of the study.

Special gratitude goes to Jenny Parkes and Jo Heslop of the Institute of Education (IoE) for their technical support in developing the conceptual framework, developing the research questions, constructing the research tools, supporting the data analysis and reviewing the fi nal report.

Great appreciation goes to the Ministry of Education, Government of Kenya for granting us permission to carry

out the project, and the Tana River District Education Offi ce for their support and participation in the research process. We also acknowledge the Ministry of Health in Tana River District. Special thanks go to the head teachers and teachers and learners in Wenje division and 117 Special School, for providing relevant data and information during the study. Their ‘voices’ form a solid foundation in this research.

We are indebted to the key informants: the girls and boys in Wenje division, members of school management committees, parents and all community leaders, who provided data for the study.

Finally, we wish to thank the study team, our associate researchers and the research assistants from Wenje division for their commitment, professionalism and contributions to the study.

OWN and Associates, Centre for Research and DevelopmentOkwach Abagi, Daniel Sifuna and Samwel Oando

The Status of Girls’ Education and Violence in Wenje Divisionviii

AcronymsAAI - ActionAid InternationalAAIK - ActionAid International KenyaAEO - Area Education Offi cerAIDS - Acquired Immuno Defi ciency SyndromeAHID - African Institute for Health and

DevelopmentASAL - Arid and Semi Arid LandsB - BoyBLF - Big Lottery FundCBOs - Community-Based OrganizationsCDF - Community Development FundCEDAW - Convention on the Elimination of all forms

of Discrimination Against WomenCRC - Convention on the Rights of the ChildCSOs - Civil Society OrganizationsDEB - District Education BoardDEO - District Education Offi cerDDP - District Development PlanDFID - United Kingdom’s Department for

International DevelopmentDP - Development PlanDK - Don’t KnowEFA - Education For AllEM - Early MarriageESDP - Education Sector Development ProgramEYC - Elimu Yetu Coalition

F - FemaleFAWE - Forum for African Women EducationalistsFGD(s) - Focus Group Discussion(s)FGM - Female Genital MutilationFPE - Free Primary EducationG - GirlGBV - Gender-Based ViolenceGCN - Girl Child NetworkGER - Gross Enrolment RatioGoK - Government of KenyaGPI - Gender Parity IndexGVRC - Gender Violence Recovery CentreHIV - Human Immunodefi ciency VirusICT - Information Communication TechnologyIDRC - International Development Research CentreIEA - Institute of Economic AffairsIIP - Infrastructure Investment ProgrammeILO - International Labour OrganizationIoE - Institute of EducationKDHS - Kenya Domestic Health SurveyKESSP - Kenya Education Sector Support ProgrammeM - MaleMoE - Ministry of EducationMoEST - Ministry of Education, Science and

Technology

ix

MoH - Medical Offi cer of HealthNARC - National Rainbow CoalitionNA - No answerN/A - Not ApplicableND - No DataNEP - North Eastern ProvinceNER - Net Enrolment RatesNGO(s) - Non-Governmental Organization(s)OAU - Organization of African UnityOSSREA - Organization for Social Science Research in

East AfricaPCR - Primary Completion RatePTA(s) - Parents Teachers Association(s)PTR - Pupil Teacher RatioRoK - Republic of KenyaSMC - School Management CommitteeSPSS - Statistical Programme for Social ScientistsSTI - Sexually Transmitted Infections

SVAGS - Stop Violence Against Girls in SchoolTTC - Teachers Training CollegeTTI(s) - Teachers Training Institute(s)UK - United KingdomUN - United NationsUNCHR - United Nations Centre for Human RightsUNCRC - United Nations Convention on the Rights of

the ChildUNDP - United Nations Development ProgramUNESCO - United Nations Education, Scientifi c and

Cultural OrganizationUNICEF - United Nations Children’s FundUPE - Universal Primary EducationUSAID - United States Agency for International

DevelopmentUSD - United States DollarVAG - Violence Against GirlsWHO - World Health Organization

The Status of Girls’ Education and Violence in Wenje Divisionx

This baseline survey was done in Wenje Division of Tana River District of the Coast Province, Kenya. The purpose of the baseline survey was to map out gendered patterns of enrolment, completion and achievement in project schools in the Division. The survey also identifi ed patterns of violence experienced by girls in schools, homes and communities and how these affect their participation in education. Finally the survey provided evidence-based recommendations to inform decision making and advocacy priorities on how to stop gender violence against girls and enhance their participation in education.

The survey covered seventeen schools, one of which was a special school. The key informants included: head teachers, teachers, pupils, girls out of school, parents, school management committees, community leaders, the District Education Offi cer and the District Health Offi cer. The instruments used during data collection included interviews and focus group discussions guides. The data was collected between April and June, 2009.

In summary, the following are the key fi ndings according to each research question:

Executive SummaryResearch Question 1

What are the constraints upon and opportunities for combating gender violence, discrimination and inequalities within legislative and policy frameworks and their implementation, at national, state and local community level?

In Kenya, the last decade has witnessed a considerably strengthened legal and policy framework supporting girls’ education at national level. The introduction of Free Primary Education (FPE) in 2003 increased access to education, while the 2006 Sexual Offences Act addressed violence against women and girls by increasing penalties for rape. The National Commission on Gender and Development (NCGD) was established in 2003, to coordinate, implement and facilitate gender mainstreaming in national development. The NCGD is implementing the National Policy on Gender and Development, which was adopted in 2007. Despite these legislative and policy developments, the evidence of this study indicates signifi cant problems of implementation at decentralized levels. In Wenje Division, progress with school enrolment has not been matched by improvements in quality of education, and the legislative and policy plans are not effective in ensuring girls’ safety and achievement within schools. In general, the majority of girls are still denied

xi

access to schooling in later primary years and there is no evidence to indicate that the laws on violence are being used effectively to protect or support girls in various communities in the division.

A key constraining factor is the harsh socio-economic conditions, with an estimated 72% of the local population living below the poverty line of two USDs a day. This has limited the impact of free primary schooling on enrolment, retention and attainment since many families use their children’s labour, especially girls, in farms or at home instead of sending them to school. Education of girls is also hampered by inadequate toilet facilities in most schools, and lack of running water and sanitary towels.

The few female teachers in most schools surveyed, means that girls may lack role models or women in school with whom they can confi de. The School Management Committees (SMCs) also lack women members, and receive little training on gender and school management. There is clearly a problem in the recruitment of female teachers in Wenje Division. The absence of pupils from SMCs may also refl ect the national policy frameworks, which do not include specifi cations on involving girls and boys in decision making processes in schools.

Communities in Wenje Division have strong views on gender roles, physical punishment and traditions like female circumcision and marriage of school girls. Often they do

not see traditional attitudes and practices, which are largely discriminatory against girls, as being oppressive or against human rights. Such practices have been part of their culture for years. The traditional practices are also regarded as sensitive and ‘secretive’, thus should not be open to debate or reform, especially by outsiders and/or schooling. An encouraging fi nding of this study is that many girls, boys and teachers, hold positive views on equality between boys/men and girls/women and do not support ‘violent’ practices directed towards girls.

Research Question 2

What patterns of violence do girls experience in schools, homes and communities? How are these situated in girls’ everyday interactions and relationships? How are these linked to the political, social and economic context?

Girls experience multiple forms of violence. Those that happen most frequently are physical forms of violence, such as whipping and beating by boys. There are also sexual forms of violence, most often carried out by boys. A quarter of girls reported having experienced sexual harassment such as unwanted touching of breasts, and one in ten reported that they have been raped. Boys and girls experience high levels of physical punishment at school and home, with boys more frequently punished this way in school, and girls more at home. To a large extent such practices are taken for granted

The Status of Girls’ Education and Violence in Wenje Divisionxii

by pupils and parents. The majority of teachers disagree with corporal punishment, although it could be in compliance with the law rather than actual practice, since at least eight in ten children reported being whipped or caned in school or home. Teachers also reported lower levels of violence than girls and boys in school, perhaps for the same reasons. Only one school out of seventeen has a written policy or protocol on discipline or violence, and there are no effective alternative forms of behaviour management being used in schools.

In homes, the high rates of physical punishment against girls are linked to roles and responsibilities within families, particularly to the gendered division of labour, and indirectly to poverty, because of the high domestic labour burden. For example, girls are punished for being slow in fetching water.

Sexual violence takes place in schools, homes and communities. Although all seem to recognise these practices as violent, their frequency suggests that some boys and men see touching, grabbing, and sexual insults as acceptable or as a way of demonstrating manliness. There are still occasional incidents of boys or men forcefully taking possession of girls’ bodies to claim ownership. In some of the communities, sexual relationships are strongly tabooed, while in others they are common even if not offi cially sanctioned.

Female circumcision is still widely practised in the Wardei community, a traditional practice the girls criticise for the

pain and distress caused during the procedure, and in later years with menstruation and fi rst sexual activity.

Girls out of school also face diffi culties. Some of those who are married cited domestic violence, by husbands and marital family. They also pointed out lack of social support systems.

Research Question 3

What are the gendered patterns of enrolment, completion and achievement in the project schools? What variations are there between the schools, and how do these compare with district and national patterns? What are the links with gender relations and violence?

The study found out that girls are losing out on education in the later primary years. While the gender gap tends to be more marked in schools with pastoralist communities, in almost all the schools there are fewer girls than boys in the later years. Many parents are unable to afford in-direct fees, uniform, books and sanitary pads for girls despite the policy of FPE. Girls and boys are needed to support their household with labour. But girls are more disadvantaged than boys because traditionally they are responsible for caring of families and undertaking household chores. Thus, most girls tend to miss school to attend to household chores and look after younger children. Pregnancy and marriage are also key reasons for

xiii

girls being withdrawn from primary school. Marriage in these circumstances might be seen by parents as a way to protect girls from unwanted sex, as well as providing material support in the form of bride price. Without access to health services and reproductive health education, unwanted pregnancies are common. Socio-economic hardship, therefore, clearly infl uences girls’ and boys’ access to schooling.

Girls are out-performed by boys in national examinations and are unlikely to proceed to secondary education compared to boys. Possible reasons for the lower academic achievement include competing demands on their study time (such as household chores that make them late for school or unable to complete homework), the persistence of stereotypical beliefs that girls are less intelligent and unfriendly school/classroom environment.

Research Question 4

What mechanisms are there for girls to contest violence, express their perspectives and infl uence decisions about matters that concern them? How can these be expanded?

Mechanisms for girls to contest violence are weak. Their main sources of support are friends, family members and teachers. Teachers deal with problems through punishing offenders, but whipping and beating sometimes perpetuates violence. Teachers deal with some incidents by confronting the parents

of offenders, with families working together to address problems. Police are occasionally called in, but neither the criminal justice system nor the health services were seen as effective or helpful by participants in the study.

At present, most of the violence against both girls and boys goes unreported. This may be because some actions may not be recognised as violent and so not reported, or the victims may feel that no action will be taken. There is lack of knowledge of laws and procedures, and inadequate systems of child protection. Even for cases of extreme violence, girls are usually not offered therapeutic support to deal with the emotional, and health consequences of physical abuse.

Girls have few opportunities to participate in decisions that concern them. For example, they are not given positions of responsibility in school or allowed on the SMC. They do, however, see girls clubs as opportunities to discuss their concerns and fi nd mutual support. Sometimes shortage of women teachers prevents access to clubs.

Girls with disabilities, for example at 117 special school, face additional problems in communities, where there may be diffi culties communicating with family members or others without specialist training (such as sign language). There was some evidence of discriminatory attitudes to disability. On the positive side, 117 special school stood out as an example of good school practice in giving girls’ skills, resources and support for violence.

The Status of Girls’ Education and Violence in Wenje Divisionxiv

In many schools themes of relationships, violence, and gender are not covered in the curriculum. Where they are covered, a large proportion of teachers thought they were not effective. These themes were occasionally discussed in science lessons and assembly, usually to provide factual information or to warn boys and girls from getting involved in sexual relationships.

A major challenge for ActionAid and partners is how to challenge the deeply held practices and traditions such as FGM, early marriage, teenage sexuality, without leading to hostility in communities, and therefore resistance to change. For instance, a group of parents felt that health services are unhelpful because they provide condoms. Nevertheless, the positive ways in which some parents and community members spoke about NGO support gives a good foundation on which these practices can be challenged. The communities greatly value the material support such as improved school facilities like fences, toilets, sanitary towels, and practical support in helping girls and communities deal with cases of violence, which NGOs have given.

Recommendations

Legislative and policy proposalsThere is need to:• Examine the views of those who express gender-equitable

viewpoints, exploring how the views and practices have changed over time and how the same can be disseminated within communities and beyond.

• Strengthen lobbying and advocacy for stakeholders to improve school infrastructure such as toilet facilities, water and sanitary provision; Strengthen advocacy on recruitment and posting of female teachers in rural areas; and giving motivational packages for teachers in ASAL areas.

• Strengthen advocacy and focus on localized implementa-tion of policies promoting gender equality through dis-semination and trainings.

• Promote child participation in school governance at all levels including training and support of teachers, SMCs, children and parents alongside advocacy at national level.

• Work with local organisations dealing with confl icts to learn more about ethnic tensions and links with violence against girls.

Addressing violence against girlsA sustainable and integrated rights-based approach enabling children, communities and schools to challenge violence is required. This will involve applying methods such as training, sensitisation and adult education to address FGM, alternative forms of discipline and gender mainstreaming. Specifi cally, there is need to:

xv

• Work with girls and boys on how to manage relationships, sexuality and sexual and reproductive health.

• Promote alternative forms of discipline within a broader gender and rights framework by:• Conducting a mapping exercise of existing and potential

alternative discipline practices. • Working with teachers, teacher unions and teacher

training institutions.• Working with families.

• Challenge the practice of FGM through:• Undertaking research on FGM (including examination

of community dynamics and behavioural change mechanisms).

• Work to promote implementation of laws banning the practice of FGM.

• Share information with other stakeholders for the development of alternative sources of livelihoods for FGM practitioners.

• Enhance awareness raising work in communities, (including building networks among girls, community, police, health services and CBOs) to develop preventive and response mechanisms to FGM cases.

Addressing gender parities in education• Work with schools, parents and communities on strategies

to increase girls’ enrolment and increase retention in Standard 6-8.

• Conduct further analysis of school level data to develop school profi les to identify • the most gender–friendly and safe schools, • schools that need to be challenged and supported to

improve their practices, and

• school development plans that need improvement.• Work with schools and DEO’s offi ce to improve school

record systems.• Build on existing training on violence and HIV/AIDS to

incorporate gender mainstreaming.

Challenging violence• Promotion of an effective integrated system to address

violence in schools and communities need to be enhanced both at school and community levels. This should include:• A thorough analysis of the different mechanisms

(including traditional justice systems) for addressing violence, and the circumstances in which different forms are more effective for girls.

• Developing a system of communication and referral between different organisations/departments, and community, district and national levels.

• Ongoing support and providing gender sensitive training and VAGS training for referral organizations such as the police, schools and child protection units.

• Supporting schools to implement national guidelines on Gender in Education Policy.

• Working with schools and communities to ensure that girls are able to use the reporting mechanisms to protect themselves.

• Ensuring all teachers (especially those running girl clubs) are trained in gender responsive pedagogies and child rights.

• Ensuring all girls clubs are facilitated by female staff.• With support of male teachers and head teachers,

engaging boys in addressing issues of violence and equality, and creating opportunities for supporting boys to deal with violence.

The Status of Girls’ Education and Violence in Wenje Divisionxvi

• Further research on special needs in education and disability, and links to violence and their impacts on education.

• Further analysis of good practices on gender and violence in some schools such as the special school, and sharing with other schools.

• Identifying gaps in the curriculum on relationships, including how to deal with confl ict, rights and equalities, sex, relationships and health education, and working with schools, teacher training institutions and teacher unions to address them.

1

1.2 Background to the studyAccording to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (adopted in September 1990 and ratifi ed by 193 countries), both girls and boys have the right to a good quality education that respects their human dignity and promotes the development of their potentials. They also have the right to be protected from all forms of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect. The Kenyan Government ratifi ed the UNCRC in 1991 and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the child in the same year, to meet this demand. The Government of Kenya also enacted the Children’s Act in 2001 and the Sexual Offences Act in 2006 to protect the rights of the child. Thus, the protection of children’s right to belong, grow, access healthcare, education and other services is enshrined in the country’s offi cial legal and policy

documents including the Constitution (Centre for Rights Education and Awareness- CREAW, 2007).

Despite such consensus, much remains to be done to reduce gender parity in girls’ education. Nearly 70 countries failed to reach the goal of gender parity in education by 2005 and of the 75 million children currently out of school, approximately 55% are girls (UNESCO, 2009). Not only is a large number of girls denied the right to education, but many who attend school receive their education through under-resourced and over-crowded classrooms, poorly-trained or untrained teachers, and emotional and physical abuse through bullying, insults, physical punishment and sexual harassment. This hinders girls’ participation in education (UNESCO 2003).

1: Introduction to the Baseline Study1.1 Introduction This baseline survey was carried out in Kenya, under the project: “Stop Violence Against Girls in School” supported by funds from The Big Lottery Fund, and implemented by ActionAid International Kenya, OWN & Associates and Girl Child Network. The survey was carried out in Wenje Division of The Tana River District in 2009/2010. This chapter outlines the background of the study and its location within the broader fi ve year plan. The methodology outlines the study approach to research planning and analysis.

The Status of Girls’ Education and Violence in Wenje Division2

ActionAid believes that, if not addressed, violence against girls in and around the learning environment prevents the achievement of universal primary education and the elimination of gender disparities in education. Therefore, building on best practices being developed in a number of country programmes, in 2008 ActionAid initiated a multi-country project called Stop Violence Against Girls in School with support from the UK’s Big Lottery Fund. This project, which is being implemented simultaneously in Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique, over a fi ve-year period aims to achieve four key outcomes by 2013:

1. In Kenya, Ghana and Mozambique, a legal and policy framework that specifi cally addresses violence against girls in school exists and is being implemented at all levels.

2. Violence against girls by family members, teachers and peers in the intervention districts is reduced by 50% from baseline statistics.

3. In the portfolio intervention districts, enrolment of girls is increased by 22%, girls’ drop out rate decreases by 20% and substantial progress is made towards gender parity in education.

4. Fourteen thousand (14,000) girls in the portfolio intervention districts demonstrate the confi dence to challenge the culture of violence in and around schools, report incidents and create peer support networks.

Through this project, we hope that the combination of research, community-level initiatives and advocacy will not only serve to generate new knowledge and facilitate a better understanding about the causes and effects of violence against girls, but also will work to tackle the inequalities which expose girls to violence and prevent them from realising their rights to education.

This baseline study will make a valuable contribution to international knowledge about violence against girls because of the cross-country design and analysis across three countries in East, West and Southern Africa.

1.3 Project PartnershipThis project is being implemented by seven different national partner organisations in three countries: Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique in collaboration with Action Aid. The participating organizations have expertise in advocacy, community interventions and research. The baseline study in Kenya was conducted by Own and Associates – the lead institution in research component of the project in Kenya. The Institute of Education (University of London) collaborated with national partners to develop the theoretical framework and research design. The Institute team also was in charge of providing peer review support to national partners and facilitating the cross-country analysis of research outcomes.

3

1.4 The aims of the baseline studyThe specifi c aims of the baseline research were to:

1. Provide baseline data from which to measure and evaluate change over life of the project;

2. Elicit accurate data and identify current trends and patterns of violence, discrimination and inequalities in girls’ lives in project districts;

3. Identify perspectives and fi nd out experiences of girls, boys and key stakeholders in relation to problems of violence, discrimination and gendered inequalities, and to identify existing personal, social and material resources for girls to contest violence.

4. Situate the fi ndings from the survey within the district, national and international contexts;

5. Identify priority concerns in order to inform decision making about future research, community intervention and advocacy priorities.

1.5 Key research Questions

Four research questions were developed for the baseline study. They were drawn from the conceptual framework which was developed and agreed upon by all the participating partners.1. What are the constraints upon and opportunities

for combating gender violence, discrimination and inequalities within legislative and policy frameworks and their implementation, at national, state and local community level?

2. What patterns of violence do girls experience in schools, homes and communities? How are these situated in girls’ everyday interactions and relationships? How are these linked to the political, social and economic context?

3. What are the gendered patterns of enrolment, completion and achievement in the project schools? What variations are there between the schools, and how do these compare with district and national patterns? What are the links with gender relations and violence?

4. What mechanisms are there for girls to contest violence, to express their perspectives and to infl uence decisions about matters that concern them? How can these be expanded?

1.6 Methodology1.6.1. Research preparationTo develop a coordinated, streamlined approach to the baseline study across the three countries, workshops were held in Nairobi (September 2008), Accra (March 2009) and London (August 2009). The workshops were attended by ActionAid, IoE and Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique research teams, who designed the study, build consensus on research questions and developed research tools. ActionAid country programme managers, community intervention partners and advocacy partners also made important contributions to the design and planning of the study.

The conceptual framework of the study was developed through discussion of key terms, issues and debates in the


international literature, as well as the early discussions within the project (see annexe I for the Conceptual Framework). In each country, research partners reviewed the research and context of gender, violence and education at national and local level. This was followed by a scoping exercise to collect initial education and socio-economic data from secondary sources for each school to enable appropriate research design and sampling. A legal and policy analysis was also undertaken.

Key phases of the baseline survey followed the timeline below:• September 2008 – March 2009 Development of

Research design and Research tools• April 2009 – June 2009 Data collection• July 2009 – October 2009 Data analysis • November 2009 – March 2010 Report writing.

The partners in the project agreed that a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods would ensure rigorous, credible and persuasive research. The mixed methodological approach would provide in-depth data about violence against girls and generate fi ndings which were measurable. Such data/information would be used to inform advocacy work. Besides, it will form the basis of measuring change (outcomes) over the duration of the project. Aware of the ‘sensitivity’ and/or misinformation, thus the risk of under-reporting and misreporting, we paid careful attention to the wording of

questions, avoiding terms like ‘rape’, ‘abuse’ and ‘violence’ that are loaded and open to ‘mis-interpretation’ by different respondents. Instead the instruments had questions about specifi c acts (such as being beaten or slapped), places (such as home or school or church) and people (such as teachers, parents or other pupils). A broad range of perspectives were elicited, including those of girls and boys in and out of schools, teachers, head teachers and School Management Committee (SMC) members, parents and community members.

Draft instruments were piloted in a community neighbouring the research site in the same district. The fi rst revision was then made on the basis of feedback from participants and researchers. The instruments were later refi ned during the research training workshop attended by research assistants in the study area. The following instruments were used for the baseline study:

1. Pupils’ quantitative instrument 2. Pupils’ qualitative interview 3. Girls’ focus group discussion4. Teachers/Head teachers’ survey5. Head teacher qualitative interview6. School records instrument7. School Management Committee/Board interview 8. Parents focus group discussion9. Interviews with community leader, women’s group leader,

District Education Offi cer, District Health Offi cer and Police.

5

1.6.2 Sampling The Stop Violence Against Girls in Schools project is in all the sixteen primary schools in Wenje division, as well as a school for the deaf within the district. All the schools participated in the study. The Instruments 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 (see Table 1), were administered in all the schools. In addition, four schools in different communities in the division were selected for additional qualitative data collection using in-depth qualitative interviews and focus group discussions with girls and boys in school, and with girls who were out of school (instruments 2 and 3 – see Table 2). These communities were selected to refl ect demographic variations within the project area. In addition, district level stakeholders were interviewed (see Table 3).

Gender perspective was the guiding principle in the study. Thus, the study team heard the perspectives of girls and boys, women and men in the schools and selected communities. In order to ensure that younger and older children were included, three age cohorts were included: 8-10 years, 11-13 years and 14-17 years. Sampling bias was reduced through randomly selecting children for inclusion using class registers. A total of 480 pupils (336 girls and 144 boys), 14 head teachers and 80 teachers, and 32 community leaders, 80 parents and 2 District offi cials were informants during the baseline study (see total informants in each category in the tables 1-4). during interviews. Interviews were carried out by same sex researchers, and interview schedules included clear

instructions about informed consent, with participants told that they could withdraw at will. In each step of the research process, researchers also consulted with local partners for support and reporting mechanisms. Each child participating as a respondent was given information about what to do if they ever needed help to resolve a case of violence. To ensure that respondents were not coerced into participating against their will, all participants, including children, were given clear information about the project. They were also told that they were able to choose not to participate and to withdraw at any time. Researchers also sought permission to carry out the research in schools according to existing procedures in each country. In addition permission was also sought in participating schools and community leadership.

11.6.3 Ethical issuesThe research protocol was developed to ensure rigour and high standards of ethical conduct. The study was granted ethical approval by the Institute of Education’s Faculty Research Ethics Committee.

Respect, treating respondents fairly and confi dentiality were the basic guiding principles at all stages of the research. As much as possible, researchers strived to ensure privacy during interviews. Interviews with girls and boys were carried out by same sex researchers, and interview schedules

1 Refer to appendix 2 for protocol document establishing the standards of ethical conduct


included clear instructions about informed consent, with participants told that they could withdraw at will. In each step of the research process, researchers also consulted with local partners for support and reporting mechanisms. Each child participating as a respondent was given information about what to do if they ever needed help to resolve a case of violence. To ensure that respondents were not coerced into participating against their will, all participants, including children, were given clear information about the project. They were also told that they were able to choose not to participate and to withdraw at will. Researchers also sought permission to carry out the research in schools according to

Table 1: Number and Categories of Informants

Instrument Total per school

Total sample across all schools

Girls: Quantitative interviews 24 336 girlsBoys: Quantitative interviews 12 144 boysHead teacher: interview 1 15School records instrument 1 16 Teachers: Survey 5 80Parents: Focus group discussion

1 (5 parents)

16 (80 parents)

School Management Committee: interview

1 16

Community leader: interview 1 16Women’s group leader: interview

1 16

Table 2: Additional Informants from four schools

Instrument Total per school

Total sample across 4 schools

Girls: qualitative interview 6 24Girls: focus group discussions in school

3 (21 girls) 12 (84 girls)

Girls: focus group discussion out of school

1 (7 girls) 4 (28 girls)

Boys: qualitative interview 6 24

Table 3: Number of District offi cials interviewed

Data collection Total per school Total sample District health offi cer: interview

1

District education offi cer: interview

1

Police: interview 0

Table 4: Number of informants from the special school

Data collection Total per school Total sample Girls: Qualitative interview 6 6Boys: Qualitative interview 3 3Teacher /Head teacher Survey 3 3Head teacher: Interview 1 1School records instrument 1 1

7

existing procedures in each country. In addition permission was also sought in participating schools and community leadership.

1.6.4 Research teams’ selection and trainingThe research teams comprised of six researchers from OWN and Associates and twelve research assistants (Refer to Appendix 1) from the area of intervention (Wenje division). Gender and language mix (local language) were taken into consideration when hiring researchers. The teams were identifi ed and recruited by Own and Associates in Nairobi and Wenje Division. They were then trained jointly by a team from OWN & Associates, IoE and ActionAid before the study commenced. The researchers were at least holders of Bachelors’ degrees and experienced persons conversant with the research approach employed during the baseline survey. They were educationists, with wide experience in research, and working with children. All the Research Assistants were local residents of the study area: with broad knowledge of the community surveyed, and the local language. They had at least O-level examinations certifi cate. The researchers and research assistants were then organized into six teams of three each comprising of one researcher and two research assistants. Support mechanisms were also put in place during fi eld research to help researchers manage their safety and wellbeing and to monitor the progress and quality of the research.

1.6.5 Data analysisA data analysis workshop was facilitated by IoE and attended by Research Coordinators from Ghana, Kenya, and Mozambique, at the Institute of Education for four days. The workshop provided an opportunity for researchers to plan a data analysis framework and practise data analysis techniques. SPSS data sets were developed for inputting quantitative data. Besides, a list of table headings was agreed upon for the quantitative analysis, and coding frames were developed. Data was checked and cleaned and any coding error amended before data analysis began. Qualitative interview data was recorded using an Excel spreadsheet. This proved a useful organisational tool enabling researchers to look at responses by question, theme or by individual participant. Focus group discussions were transcribed, using notes and tape recordings made during the FGDs. Identity of respondents was concealed by coding questionnaires, participants, schools and communities rather than using names, and by securing data so that only those who needed to access the data for the project could do so. The detailed analysis was organised broadly by research questions, so that quantitative and qualitative analysis took place simultaneously, sequenced as follows:

• The political, social and economic context.• The gendered patterns of enrolment, completion and

achievement in the project schools.• Patterns of violence girls do experience in schools,

homes and communities.


• Opportunities for combating gender violence, discrimination and inequalities.

• Mechanisms girls use to contest violence.

Descriptive statistics using SPSS were used to analyse quantitative data. The qualitative analysis examined in depth similarities and differences between the accounts of different groups, considering, for example, variability in the perspectives of girls in and out of school, or between girls and boys of different ages, or between children and adults. The analysis also examined variability within each group, examining, for example why two girls might have very different perspectives. The analysis also considered how responses varied from school to school, and how socioeconomic characteristics of a school or community might infl uence the responses. As well as being analysed independently, the qualitative and quantitative data were also looked at together. For example, where quantitative fi ndings raised questions, these were investigated further in the qualitative analysis, and the qualitative data was used to help understand and explain emerging patterns in the quantitative data.

1.6.6 LimitationsThere are a number of limitations in the baseline study that posed several challenges in the research process.

• In some cases, certain target groups selected for focus group discussions especially the male parents and

some members of schools management committees, community leaders, and women leaders, could not be reached easily because of their routine commitments. This resulted into long hours of waiting and readjustments of time schedules for them to be interviewed.

• Administering the school records instrument also remained a challenge since some schools did not keep complete records of enrolment, attendance, repetition and dropout levels. In such cases the head teachers had diffi culties compiling the records on their own or with the researchers prompting the process to equally take long.

• There was also a challenge of translation from English to Swahili and then to the local languages, which could lead to having several meanings of one concept. In such instances, the teams had to make cross references until they were sure that correct meanings of every concept, question and answers were communicated.

• Most challenging was a case when some respondents ignored or avoided important questions which they perceived as inappropriate, sensitive and /or against cultural practices. Besides, some head teachers declined to respond to both the self administered questionnaire and the interview arguing that once they have responded to one, they need not to respond to the other. In some cases, some girls were afraid of the consequences of or harm that could arise should they participate in the research. For example, in one instance, a group of girls out of school refused to meet researchers because

9

they were afraid of being punished by the provincial administration for missing school or being punished by husbands for meeting researchers.

Summary A phased, collaborative process was developed to enable all project partners to contribute to the research design, implementation and analysis and to ensure the baseline study was appropriate to context. The research approach was therefore concerned with understanding and measuring acts of violence, as well as paying attention to the everyday interactions that girls fi nd themselves in, and the broader socio-economic context and institutions that surround girls. The fi ndings are described and discussed in detail in the three country-level reports, with emerging themes across all three countries synthesised in a cross-country analysis..


22.2 The Kenyan ContextThis chapter provides the country background and the context of the study area in terms of political, socio-economic and gender analysis. It also provides the situation and background of education in the country in general and specifi c situations in the project area.

The Kenya integrated household survey 2005/2006 projects the total Kenyan population to be 35,514,542 people, of which 50.7% are females and 49.3% males (Republic of Kenya, 2008). This population is diverse comprising of over

2 UNICEF Global Database/Child Health Malaria: http://www.child-info.org/statistical_tables.html

42 different ethnic groups. Notable cultures include the Bantus, Nilotes and the Cushites. There are also over 250 spoken dialects (KDHS, 2005). Kenya has eight administrative provinces: Coast, Central, Eastern, North Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Western and Nairobi. Tables 1 and 2 in Appendix V present some summary data of the Kenyan context.

Culturally, many of the ethnic communities in Kenya are patriarchal in structure with women and girls having few entitlements to family or community resources (Chege, 2007). Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), as an initiation or right of passage for girls, is a common traditional practice among many different communities. Early (under-age)

2: Context of Gender and Education in Kenya and Wenje: Challenges

and Opportunities for Redressing Gender Issues

2.1 IntroductionThis chapter provides the country background and the context of the study area in terms of political, socio-economic and gender analysis. It also provides the situation and background of education in the country in general and specifi c situations in the project area.

11

marriages are equally common traditional practice among all the groups. This is, however, currently fading out with improved laws and changing beliefs due to education and religion (PeaceNet, 2007). The vast majority of Kenyans are Christian with 45% regarding themselves as Protestant and 33% being Roman Catholic. Sizeable minorities of other faiths do exist (Muslim10% and indigenous religious groups 10%). Sixty percent of the Muslim population lives in Coast Province (Republic of Kenya, 2008).

The Kenyan economy is reliant on agriculture, which employs 75% of the rural population. Tourism and export trade are the main contributors to the GDP. Economic growth showed an upward trend from 2002 and reached 1.4% in 2003, 4.3% in 2004, 5.8% in 2005 and a peak of 7% in 2007 (Republic of Kenya, 2008). This economic gain was negated by the political instability occasioned by the disputed presidential polls in 2007, which left the country economically weaker with a growth of 1.7% in 2008. The economic condition of the country is, therefore, less stable with a small average annual GDP of US $10.33 billion (Republic of Kenya, 2009) at Market Price, and $ 41.36 billion [Purchasing Power Parity, 2008] (Republic of Kenya 2009). The poverty level measured by the number of people living with less than two US dollars a day is estimated at 54% of the total population, while the infl ation rate increased from 9.8% in 2007 to 26.2% in 2008 (Republic of Kenya, 2009).

Tables 3 and 4 in Appendix V show further health related data for Kenya. Another study by USAID 2009, estimates that the overall life expectancy at birth in Kenya is 57.9 years, while the crude birth rate and death rates are estimated to be 36.6 per 1000 births and 9.7 per 1000 deaths respectively. Infant Mortality Rate on the other hand is estimated to be 79.8 per live births in 2007 (UNICEF Global Database-2009). The maternal mortality rate was 414 per 100,000 live births (DHS, 2003). The Kenya DHS (2003) also shows that the total fertility rate was 4.6% and contraceptive prevalence rate using modern methods for all women was 22.7% of the population by 2003 (Kenya DHS-2003). The same report indicates that the median age of sexual debut among women of ages 25-49 was 17.6 years while the mean ideal family size was 3.9 persons. The data for women 20-24 who gave birth before age 20 was also estimated at 45.4% for all women in that age bracket (KDHS, 2003). (See more indicators in appendix V).

In Kenya, violence against women and girls—whether rape, coercion or physical or emotional intimidation – increases their vulnerability to HIV infection (see Table 5 Appendix V). HIV prevalence in girls 15 - 19 years old is six times higher than that in boys of the same age (3% of young women in this age range are infected, but less than 0.5% of young men). HIV prevalence among women 20 - 24 is over four times that of men in the same age group (9% versus 2%). Peak prevalence among women is between the ages 25 - 29 (13%); among men prevalence rises gradually with age to peak between 40 and 44 (9%).


2.2.1 Education and school participation of girls and boys in KenyaEducation and training in Kenya is governed by the Education Act (1968) and other related Acts of Parliament, including the Teachers Service Commission Act, the Kenya National Examination Council Act, Adult Education Act, University Act, and various Acts and Charters for different Universities. The legislation governing the sector has therefore not kept pace with new developments and many proposals have been made for their review.

From the colonial period educational provision for women was within the context of the broad colonial policy in the country. Gender was an important determinant of school participation. Women’s subordinated positions arising from the cultural practices and colonial economic structures, determined their participation in colonial education. Girls were usually not sent to school and the few who managed to attend school received an education that would not prepare them for the more prestigious and better paid jobs that were opening up for men or even for the less desirable wage occupations (Robertson, 1986). As a result, it was estimated that during the last two decades of colonial rule, the number of African girls attending elementary schools constituted about 25 per cent of all school going African children (UNICEF 2006). The achievement of independence in Kenya in 1963 did not result in revolutionary changes in the gender division of labour. Perhaps the most dramatic change that followed independence was the increase in the numbers

of both men and women who had received formal education and thus became available for formal sector employment.

There are a number of explanations for the problem of gendered policy gap in Kenya as elsewhere in the Sub-Saharan African countries. First, most of those responsible for development planning have reluctantly recognized gender as an important planning and decision making variable. Such authority continues to remain not only male dominated, but also gender-blind in orientation. Second, for those involved in planning practice, it has proven remarkably diffi cult to mainstream gender into existing planning and implementation because they have no or limited capacities to do so. Attempts to do so seem to lead to the perception that women will always be marginalized in the planning theory and practice until theoretical gender concerns are adequately incorporated into a gender planning framework which is recognized in its own right as a specifi c planning approach (Mosser, 1989). Although these developments were highly signifi cant, the impetus for research and policy in gender related issues was enhanced by the second UN International Conference on Women, popularly referred to as `Forum 85’ which was held in Nairobi in 1985. This conference highlighted and substantially raised awareness about many fundamental issues that affect the status of women and girls in Kenya. Low education or non-participation of girls in education was identifi ed as one of the many challenges facing women’s active participation in development. Since `Forum 85’ the Kenyan government stepped up its policy statements on gender issues.

13

The National Policy on Gender and Development was drafted by the Women Bureau in 2007, and has been formally ratifi ed by the government. The policy seeks to promote a deliberate move towards, among other things, gender equity in Kenya by pursuing three goals:

• increased education and training opportunities for women and girls;

• increased gender awareness and sensitisation in all sectors for facilitating smooth implementation of gender sensitive policies and programmes; and

• a gender sensitive legal framework and practice that will facilitate fairness and justice to women of Kenya.

The offi cial policy to slow the growth of primary education received a major shift in 1971 when a presidential decree abolished tuition fees for all the districts. The argument was that the payment of school fees tended to prevent a large proportion of children, girls in particular, from attending school. The December 12, 1973 presidential decree was then seen to have taken the country and government much closer to achieving the long awaited ‘universal primary education’. The decree provided free education for children in Standard I-IV in all the districts of Kenya. It further provided a uniform fees structure for those in standards V-VII in the whole country (Muhoro, 1975). In 1978, the government proposed to abolish all forms of school levies in all public primary schools in the country which was briefl y implemented. In 1979, another political pronouncement was made. This time the government

introduced a free milk programme for primary school children. These two measures increased primary school enrolment by 23.5 per cent in two decades, from 1978 to 1999 (Abagi, 1997).

During the December, 2002 general elections, the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) among its election manifesto was to provide free primary education. Following its victory, on January 6, 2003 the Minister for Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) launched the Free Primary Education (FPE) programme to fulfi l the election pledge. Fees and levies for tuition in primary education were abolished as the government and development partners were to meet the cost of basic teaching and learning materials, wages for critical non-teaching staff and co-curricular activities. The government and development partners were to pay Kshs. 1,020 (USD 13.6) for each primary school child per year. The FPE did not require parents and communities to build new schools, but they were to refurbish and use existing facilities such as community and religious buildings. According to the policy, to charge additional levies, school heads and committees were to obtain approval from the MoEST in a request to the District Education Board (DEB) by the Area Education Offi cer (AEO), after a consensus among parents through the Provincial Director of Education (MoEST, 2003). Table 5 shows the progressive changes in the net enrolment in Kenya due to the successful implementation of the Free Primary Education policy. Net Enrolment rate (NER), has progressively increased since 2002 from 77.3 percent (boys


76.5%, girls78.0%) to 91.6 percent (boys 94.1%, girls 89.0%) in 2007. This indicates the efforts by the government towards attaining Education for All goals by 2015 commitment. Primary school Net Enrolment Rates (NER), shows that most of the provinces registered a relatively, high enrolment rates except North Eastern, Nairobi and Coast provinces as shown in the fi gure 1.

Figure 1: Net Enrolment Rate by Gender and Province, 2007

Source: EMIS Unit, MoE, 2008

Table 5: Primary Net Enrolment Rate (percent) by Gender and Province, 2002-2007

Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007PROVINCE Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys GirlsCoast 58.2 53.2 66.9 60.1 72.8 67.7 75.1 73.3 72.3 71.2 84.6 77.0Central 83.5 87.8 83.6 84.2 81.4 81.8 87.9 87.0 83.0 83.0 84.4 80.7Eastern 87.7 91.6 90.4 90.3 91.4 91.5 94.9 93.8 96.9 95.8 98.7 97.8Nairobi 25.4 29.5 35.5 40.3 35.9 41.1 39.2 40.9 31.2 34.7 28.6 29.3Rift valley 81.1 81.5 84.1 82.0 87.8 85.4 87.9 85.3 91.8 89.8 98.3 94.0Western 95.4 91.7 97.5 93.2 99.3 97.2 99.1 94.6 99.1 94.6 99.1 98.9Nyanza 88.9 89.6 96.2 95.4 96.9 96.2 98.4 97.2 98.4 97.2 98.4 98.2North Eastern 19.6 14.1 26.1 16.2 23.6 14.9 26.6 18.8 25.9 18.8 33.1 20.8National NER 76.5 78.0 80.8 80.0 82.2 82.0 83.8 82.6 86.5 86.5 94.1 89.0Grand Total 77.3 80.4 82.1 83.2 86.5 91.6

Source: MoE statistics report, 2008

15

The Government continued to implement the Free Primary Education policy under the Kenya Education Sector Support Programme (KESSP). The ministry continued to support construction of infrastructure facilities through the Infrastructure Investment Programme (IIP) and the Constituency Development Funds (CDF). This initiative registered an increase in enrolment especially in the non-formal education sector by 5% from 2007 – 2008, majority of which were in the Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASAL) districts (Republic of Kenya, 2009).

Primary Gender Parity Index (GPI)Overall the GPI depicts the ratio of enrolment of girls to boys over the period 2003 – 2007. This is a measure of how well the country is attaining equity in the provision of education. According to Table 6, the gender parity in enrolment has signifi cantly improved and Coast Province is close to achieving gender parity.

Table 6: Primary GPI by Province, 2003- 2007

Province 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Coast 0.9 0.93 0.98 0.98 0.91

Central 1.01 1 0.99 1 0.96

Eastern 1 1 0.99 0.99 0.99

Nairobi 1.14 1.14 1.04 1.11 1.02

Rift Valley 0.98 0.97 0.97 0.98 0.96

Western 0.96 0.98 0.95 0.95 1

Nyanza 0.99 0.99 0.99 0.99 1

North Eastern 0.62 0.63 0.71 0.73 0.63

NATIONAL 0.99 1 0.98 1 0.94

Source: EMIS UNIT, MoE, 2008


Primary Completion Rate As depicted in Table 7 below, the Primary Completion Rate (PCR), which is an achievement indicator, measures the number of children graduating from standard eight expressed as a proportion of the 13 year olds in that year. The introduction of FPE in 2003 saw the national PCR rise

signifi cantly by 5.4% in one year. The PCR for girls, however, lagged behind that of boys over the same period which conforms to the national enrolment trends. In Coast Province fewer girls than boys are completing primary schooling, with, in 2007, 58.8% of girls completing compared with 88% of boys.

Table 7: Primary Completion Rate by Gender and Province, 2003-2007

Province 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls

Coast 59.5 40.2 69.2 47.3 73.7 80.2 80.2 53.2 88 58.8

Central 82.5 84.4 91.5 92.1 91 89.8 85.8 82.3 87.3 85.1

Eastern 73.2 71.3 83.5 79.1 85.4 78.5 83.2 75.9 88.3 80

Nairobi 39.3 42.5 43.3 46.6 46.4 50.8 48.5 52.4 53.7 57.2

Rift Valley 75.1 69.8 84.1 76.6 88 79.8 88.1 78.1 93.5 83.2

Western 72.2 66.9 84.5 75.5 85.9 74.9 85.7 75 92.9 81.6

Nyanza 80.2 63.7 88 69.8 89.3 69.7 86.7 68 89.9 72

North Eastern 32.7 14.2 39 14.8 39.1 15.4 42.7 15.7 49.9 21.7

NATIONAL 71.3 65.2 80.3 72.1 82.4 72.8 81.6 71.1 86.5 75.7

GRAND TOTAL 68.2 76.2 77.6 76.3 81

Source: Statistics Section, MoE 2008

17

Primary Schools Drop-Out RateThe dropout rate in schools also takes a gender dimension. For example, in the Coast Province more girls drop-out of school compared to boys. Drop-out and repetition levels

Table 8: Primary Schools Drop Out Rate (%) by Gender and Province, 2003 - 2007

Province 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007B G T B G T B G T B G T B G T

Coast 1.9 1.8 1.8 5.6 8.5 6.9 7.7 6.7 7.3 7.3 8.5 7.9 5.4 5.9 5.6Central 1 0.8 0.9 5.2 3.9 4.5 3.5 3.2 3.4 4.6 2.2 3.4 2.2 1.6 1.9Eastern 1 0.8 0.9 5.2 3.9 4.5 3.5 3.2 3.4 4.6 2.2 3.4 2.2 1.6 1.9Nairobi 1.9 1.4 1.6 5.7 5.6 5.6 6.3 6.7 6.5 7.5 5.6 6.6 4.2 4 4.1Rift Valley 2.3 2.2 2.2 6.5 7.2 6.9 4.7 4.3 4.5 6 5.2 5.6 3.5 3.6 3.6Western 2.4 2.4 2.4 6.6 7.8 7.2 5.6 4.4 5 9.9 9.6 9.7 1.1 2.2 1.6Nyanza 2.8 3.1 2.9 6.5 9.2 7.8 3.9 5.3 4.6 6.4 5.7 6.1 2.3 4.4 3.5North Eastern 2.3 3.1 2.6 12 21 15 6.4 8.1 7 8.7 16 11 4 6.1 4.7NATIONAL 2.1 2 2 6.1 6.9 6.5 5 4.9 4.9 6.8 5.9 6.4 3.2 3.7 3.5

Source: EMIS, MoE

directly affect the completion rates and signify the effi ciency of the education system. Table 8 below shows drop out rates by gender and region from 2003-2007.


Primary to Secondary Transition RatesThe transition rate from primary to secondary remained below 50% between 2003 and 2004 but increased in 2005. The upward trend continued in 2006 and 2007, but throughout the years more boys than girls who sat the class eight examinations passed and progressed to secondary school except in 2007. (See Figure 2 below).

Figure 2: Primary to Secondary Transition Rate, 2003-2007

Source: Statistics and EMIS Section, MoE 2008

2.2.2 Gender and Violence against Women and Girls in Kenya

Statistics on gender violenceGetting reliable and comprehensive data on gender and violence against women and girls in Kenya is a challenge. This is because in most cases the data collected or stored is not gender disaggregated. Nevertheless, available data indicates that at least half of all women have experienced violence in one way or the other since they were fi fteen years old (Kenya Demographic and Health Survey -KDHS, 2007). The statistics by the Kenya Police Crime for 2007 point out that there were 876 cases of rape reported, 1,984 cases of defi lement, 181 cases of incest, 198 cases of sodomy, 191 cases of indecent assault and 173 cases of abduction. Young girls aged between 10 to 15 years are considered the most vulnerable to sexual violence according to the Government records. Some of these girls are marginalized and not given equal opportunities for education as their boy-child counterparts. In summary, the available statistics from KDHS (2007) show that: • Forty nine percent of Kenyan women reported

experiencing violence in their lifetime; one in four (25%) had experienced violence in the previous twelve months.

• Eighty three percent of women and girls reported one or more episodes of physical abuse in childhood; and 46% reported one or more episodes of sexual abuse in childhood.

• Over 60% of these women and children did not report the event to anyone. Only 12% who had been physically

19

or sexually abused reported the incidents to someone in authority such as a village elder or the police.

• In Kenya, 25% of 12-24 year olds lost their virginity by force.

• Nairobi Women’s Hospital receives an average of eighteen cases of rape and incest each day.

• There is only one shelter for victims of domestic violence in Kenya.

• A majority of the victims of violence are girls. Sixty percent of women who have experienced violence experience their fi rst abuse between 6-12 years, while 24% between 13-19 years.

The Kenya wellbeing Survey (2008) equally shows increase in offences committed mainly against women and girls. Sexual abuse especially defi lement and incest is common in many communities in Kenya. Table 9 summarizes the fi ndings of cases reported to the police in the period 2004-2007 (Republic of Kenya 2008).

Table 9: Cases of Gender Based Violence reported to the police in 2004 – 2007 in Kenya

Source: Economic survey 2008

Legal and judicial systemsMany survivors of violence suffer silently, either unaware that legal recourse is available, or they are unable to access it due to cost, or they just lack confi dence in the justice system. Traditional culture permits a man to physically “discipline” his wife and, under the current legal instruments and practice, married women have no guarantee of protection from rape. This is because traditionally marriage is considered blanket consent to intercourse (USAID, 2006). When a woman is


assaulted, should she choose to take legal recourse she must navigate her way through an often intimidating, and ineffi cient institutional infrastructure. The police receive complaints, investigate and prosecute. The Attorney General supports the police in prosecuting complaints, and the Judiciary dispenses justice based on the case presented. The Ministry of Health oversees the medical response to violence (Republic of Kenya, 2009). The trial process of rape cases also often amounts to a travesty of justice, as the victim is forced to undergo what has been referred to as yet another rape ordeal in the telling of the crime (KDHS, 2003).

The existing law, the Sexual Offences Act 2006, carries penalties of up to life imprisonment for rape, although actual sentences are usually no more than ten years. Women often fear retribution when the rapist, if convicted, gets out. The rate of prosecution and completed cases also remains low because of cultural inhibitions against publicly discussing issues of sex, victim’s fear of retribution, slow and ineffi cient criminal justice system and unavailability of doctors who could provide the necessary evidence for conviction (Republic of Kenya 2008). In the rural set ups, and in many cases in Kenya, most sexual violence cases are settled outside the formal legal system. Out of the cases of sexual offence reported at hospitals, only 50% of them are likely to be taken to court, 10% of the cases reach fi rst hearing while the rest of the GBV cases never reach the fi rst hearing due to withdrawal by the complainant (Institute of Economic Affairs, 2009). In most communities traditional methods are preferred because of compensation. Punishment

for rape and defi lement varies depending on the nature of sexual assault and the age of the survivor. In some communities, if a man touches a girl inappropriately without her consent, he is ordered to buy her new clothes while defi lement attracts a more severe punishment. The perpetrator is fi ned and ordered to pay a number of cows, goats, money or new clothes to victim depending on the community’s preference. He can also be given corporal punishment by the local administrators. In contrast punishment for rape of married women and widows is less severe and in many cases rape of divorced women is not taken seriously (Institute of Economic Affairs, 2009).

Response to violence against women and girlsThe Ministry of Health through the Division of Reproductive Health has developed National Guidelines on the Medical Management of Sexual Violence, launched in 2005. In addition, the ministry supports the violence response unit within Kenyatta National Hospital. The Nairobi Women’s Hospital, in operation since 2001, is a private institution that specializes in obstetric and gynaecological care, but also provides general medical services. The Gender Violence Recovery Centre (GVRC) Unit has been operational since 2001 and caters for women and children who have been subjected to abuse by strangers or people close to them. The GVRC offers medical care, rehabilitates women victims of all forms of violence including rape through specialized trauma counselling and administers PEP (post exposure prophylaxis) and several other tests for STIs or other infections resulting from the ordeal. The GVRC receives an average of eighteen

21

cases daily of violence against women, specifi cally rape and incest (Institute of Economic Affairs, 2009).

2.2.3 The district context: Tana RiverLocation and administrative divisionsThe (original)3Tana River District is one of the seven districts constituting the Coast Province of Kenya. Other districts include Lamu, Kilifi , Kwale, Mombasa and Taita-Taveta. Tana River covers an area of 38,782km2, and is divided into seven administrative divisions, 43 locations and 93 sub-locations. The divisions are Bura, Madogo, Bangale, Galole, Wenje, Garsen and Kipini. Along its borders are Kitui district to the west, Mwingi to the northwest, Garissa to the northeast, Ijara to the east, Meru and Isiolo districts to the north, and Lamu and Malindi to the southeast. It also borders the Indian Ocean to the south, with a coastal strip of 35km. The district lies between the latitudes 00 and 30 south and longitudes 38030’ and 40015’ east.

Physiographic and natural conditionsThe major topographical features of the district include an undulating plain, with a few hills mainly at Minjila in Garsen division, and Bilbil in Bura and Madogo divisions. The land slopes south eastwards with altitudes ranging from 0m along the coast to 200 m above the sea level. The district receives an annual average rainfall of 220 mm to 500 mm with an average of 397 mm per annum. Long rains occur between March and May while the short rains come in October to

3 The total number of districts in Coast Province by 2007.

December. This seasonal pattern determines the migration settlement patterns for pastoralists while most of the farming activities take place along the river fl ood plain where irrigation is practiced to supplement the low and unreliable rainfall. The River Tana traverses from the north to the Indian Ocean covering a stretch of approximately 500 km. The river meanders in its lower course forming a large basin whose width ranges between 2-42 km towards its mouth between Mnazini area and the Indian Ocean, where the river creates an extensive delta, which is characterized by wetlands. Wenje division (the study area) is one of the seven administrative divisions of (the original) Tana River District covering approximately 885 km2 or about 2.3% of the district. It is also generally hot and dry with environmental temperatures ranging from 29-38°C, the hottest months being January to March and the coolest month being July.

Figure 3 below is the Map of Tana River district and outlines its geographic and administrative features


Figure 3: Map of Tana River district

Source: Tana River District Profile 2008

Source: Tana River District Profi le 2008

Settlement patternsThe residents of Tana River District are from the ethnic groups of the Pokomo, Wata, Bajuni and Mijikenda (Bantus) Orma, Wardei, Somalis, Malakote, Munyoyaya, (Cushites). Pokomos, Munyoyaya, Malakote and Mijikenda are engaged in farming activities while the Orma, Wardei, and Somalis are mainly engaged in livestock keeping. The farming and fi shing communities live in villages of approximately fi ve hundred households, most of which are located along the River Tana.

The pastoralist communities are mainly found in the hinterland of the district. They live in villages called ‘Manyattas’ with an average village comprising of one hundred and fi fty households. Their settlements are mainly concentrated in areas where there are watering points (like dams, water pans, wells and boreholes) and pasture. This has greatly infl uenced the settlement patterns in the district and has resulted in over-utilization of the natural resources and frequent migrations from the north divisions of Bangale, Madogo, Bura, and Galole, to the southern divisions of Garsen and Kipini. During the dry season the pastoralists settlements concentrate in the delta and move back northwards during the rainy season.

Insecurity in terms of ethnic confl icts is also a key factor that has forced most communities in the district to live together for protection. The confl icts are mainly caused by the competition for water resources and pasture, where pastoralist (Wardei) clash with farmers (Pokomo), especially during the dry seasons. In Wenje division in particular, the

23

settlement patterns for both Wardei and Pokomo communities are nucleated. The households live in twenty three villages distributed into nineteen villages occupied by the Pokomo (Bantus) and four villages occupied by the Wardei (Cushites).

Demographic Characteristics On the basis of the 1999 population and housing census Tana River district’s population was projected to be about 200,326 persons by 2002, and based on the forecasts in the District Development plan 2002 – 2008, the population was projected at 245,659 persons by 2008. The district had a male female ratio that was estimated at 100:100 throughout 1999 to 2008 (Tana River District Development Plan, 2002). The district’s population growth was also estimated at 3.4 percent and the overall number of households was estimated at 36,177 in 1999. By 2002, 45,498 (22.7%) persons were aged between 15-25 years. The population of primary school going age stood at 43,638 comprising of 21.8% by 1999 and was projected to increase to 48,324 which was 24.1% in 2002 and 59,260 persons which was 29.6% by 2008 respectively. The secondary school going population was estimated at 19,533 which was only 9.8% in 2002 and projected to be 23,953 persons, which was 11.95% by 2008 (Tana River District Development Plan, 2002). Wenje division’s population on the other hand was projected at 15,557 or about 7% of the district’s population by the year 2008 (DDP 2002-2008).

Land use and infrastructure The production systems and livelihoods of the majority are linked to the dynamics and functioning of River Tana. Apart from farming the delta is also extensively used by pastoralists who graze their cattle in the areas around it. Agricultural activities are mainly rain fed or carried out in areas where fl oodwater has receded. Irrigation farming is also practiced on a small scale while the main irrigation schemes in Bura, Hola and Gamba are the agricultural hotspots (AHID�, 2009).

The infrastructure facilities are scattered in the district. Recent data shows that there are 969.5 km of road coverage in the district, comprising 334.8 km of tarmac, 551.6 km of under gravel and 83.1 km of earth roads. It is also estimated that the households in the district, with access to piped water were only 4.7% by 2002 and most of which were based in the urban areas. Electricity connectivity is equally low with an estimated 180 households connected to the national grid, and telephone coverage, excluding mobile phones was estimated at only 0.6% households connected by 2002. Most of the statistics have however changed especially for electricity and telephone connection, with the latter having been boosted by the mobile telephone technology �(CBMS, 2009).

Socio-economic conditionsAgriculture and rural development is the mainstay of the economy of the district with 86% of the people being farmers and pastoralists, and accounts for over 90% of rural


employment. The key sources of employment and income in the sector are the livestock farming, fruits (mangoes and bananas) farming, small scale fi sheries and forestry. The sector produces 6,832 tons of food annually and contributes about Kshs. 4.1 billion (USD 5.4 million) from the sale of agro-based raw materials. The main crops grown are mangoes, cotton, coconut, and maize; while the livestock breeds include cattle, goats, sheep, and camels (DDP, 2002-2008). Despite the agricultural potential for the district, the poverty level in Tana River is high, with drought being a major cause of this condition. It is estimated that 72% of the total population in the district live below the poverty line of less than one US Dollar a day (CBMS, 2009).

The main drivers of poverty identifi ed in the district are low educational levels, lack of employment opportunities, poor infrastructure, natural disasters and inaccessibility of fi nancial institutions. This had a negative impact on the ability of households to access social services such as health, education, safe drinking water and wealth creation opportunities. Although the district is associated with confl ict as a whole, there are parts of the district which are more prone to confl ict (as explained above) than others (AHID, 2009).

Access to education in Tana River districtTana River District displays some major characteristics of educational disparities at ECD, primary and secondary levels of education.

Early Childhood DevelopmentMost of the ECD centres in the district are affi liated to primary schools. They, however, experience serious fi nancial constraints following the provision of free primary education, since most parents reduced their support for their children in pre-primary education expecting government funding for all levels. Tana River District had 215 public and 25 private ECD centres. The GER was estimated to be 64.4 percent, with 62.8 for boys and 66.0 percent for girls (Tana River District Profi le, 2008). This rate is slightly higher than the national fi gure which shows that nationally, GER for ECD in 2008 was 59.8 (Republic of Kenya, 2009).

Primary education In 2007, the district had a total of 136 primary schools, out of which 15 were privately owned and 121 are public (owned by the Government). The average growth in the number of primary schools was estimated to have been at negative 0.7 percent in every ten years, which is lower than the overall population growth of 3.9 percent. The GER improved from 47.9% in 2003 to 73.3% in 2007. The primary Pupil Teacher Ratio also increased signifi cantly from 26.6:1 in 2003 to 46.4:1 in 2007 following the implementation of free primary education (MoE, 2008).

Secondary EducationThe number of secondary schools stood at eight in 2008 with seven public secondary schools and one private. The ratio of secondary schools to the population of the overall secondary

25

higher levels of the formal education system are considerably less than those of boys. This is due to the socio-economic and cultural factors discussed in chapter three. Wenje division, the project area, has a total of sixteen primary schools and one secondary school. The project area, however, covers two more schools beyond the borders of the division one of which is a special school located at Hola in Galole division. The other is 114 Primary School, which was formerly in the division but later changes of boundaries moved it to the current Tana Delta district.

school going age was estimated at 1:2441, which implied high levels of inequalities in the distribution of secondary schools in the district.

Literacy levels in Wenje division are generally low with 45% of the population considered to be literate, compared to 56% at the district level and 79% of the national statistics (MoE, 2008). Girls’ participation in primary education in Wenje, as in many other parts of the country, is generally low compared to that of the boys. Their chances of enrolling and reaching the

Table 10: Education indicators in Tana River District 2003

Indicator 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007B G T B G T B G T B G T B G T

GER 54.1 41.5 47.9 60.9 46.3 53.7 70.5 54.7 62.8 79.6 66.9 73.4 80.9 65.6 73.3NER 47.9 38.9 43.5 48.8 39.7 44.4 54.7 56.9 55.8 65.8 56.3 59.1 71.4 60.1 65.9PCR 30.0 18.1 24.0 32.5 20.4 26.4 34.3 21.5 27.9 39.9 21.9 30.8 42.3 22.7 32.4Dropout rate 3.5 3.1 3.3 15.8 19.5 17.4 16.4 12.4 14.7 13.5 18.6 15.8 12.8 18.1 15.2

Schools Plc Prv T Plc Prv T Plc Prv T Plc Prv T Plc Prv TPrimary schools

114 3 117 114 3 117 121 7 128 121 8 129 121 15 136

PTR 26.6 37.8 39.8 42.8 46.2Pupil class ratio

25.9 27.7 18.6 18.2 32.9

Source: MoE 2008 NB: (GER -Gross Enrolment Rate, NER- Net Enrolment Rate, PCR-Primary Completion Rate, PTR-Pupil Teacher Ratio, Plc-Public, Prv-Private, B-Boy, G-Girl, T-Total.)


Apart from the special school located in the urban centre, all the other schools are situated in an entirely rural set up. Most of the schools are also located within the villages except a few like 108, 102 and 116, all of which are located within or next to the villages as others, but have very bushy environments. These schools also have some pupils travelling long distance (approximately 5 km) to reach school. 117 Primary School, unlike all the other schools in Wenje, is located in Hola town which is the district headquarters.

Summary The country background manifests a patriarchal system that is widely biased against women and girls compared to men and boys. This coupled with a weak economy and high poverty levels, makes majority of the women population vulnerable to different forms of injustice including limited access to education rights. Historically, the evolution of policies on gender equity has been slow right from the colonial period to post independence era with several attempts being made both at international and local levels. The free primary education policy boosted the overall access to education both nationally and at district level. In all the indicators of access and participation in education, boys still have a comparative advantage over the girls.

27

3.1 IntroductionThis chapter presents the fi ndings from Wenje division concerning the gender profi les in education indicators such as enrolment and attendance, progression and performance in national examinations in all the seventeen project schools. In this section, we analyse problems affecting children in school and how such problems determine enrolment, progression, absenteeism and performance. The chapter also outlines the school indicators such as the pupil teacher ratio, the schools infrastructure profi le, policies and attitudes to gender roles in schools.

3.2 Gender Profi les of Enrolment and Attendance

3: Analysis of Gender and Education

EnrolmentThe general enrolment trend for the three years is that there is an increasingly higher attrition rate as girls move through the higher classes (six, seven and eight) of the primary school.

Almost half of the girls drop out of school before reaching class eight. Table 11 provides the enrolment variation for all schools by class and gender for the period 2006-2008.


Table 11: Percentage of girls enrolled by class for all schools 2006 – 2008

Class

Nos. of girls enrolled Nos. of boys’ enrolledPercentage of girls enrolled per year GPI enrolment

2006 2007 2008 2006 2007 2008 2006 2007 2008 2006 2007 2008

Class 1 583 495 467 515 527 427 53.1 48.4 52.7 1.13 0.94 1.09

Class 2 340 391 331 342 317 342 49.9 55.2 50.8 0.99 1.23 0.97

Class 3 326 301 284 266 324 275 55.1 48.2 51.6 1.23 0.93 1.03

Class 4 210 314 320 215 262 308 49.4 54.5 51.2 0.98 1.20 1.04

Class 5 155 200 265 163 206 225 48.7 49.3 55.3 0.95 0.97 1.18

Class 6 140 145 132 170 269 168 45.2 35.0 45.8 0.82 0.54 0.79

Class 7 185 108 124 256 170 186 41.9 38.8 34.2 0.72 0.64 0.67

Class 8 243 24 59 209 320 135 53.8 7.0 32.5 1.16 0.08 0.44

Total 2182 2202 2030 2136 2395 2111 50.5 47.9 49.1 1.02 0.92 0.96

Figure 4 illustrates the trend of enrolment for 2008 in GPI from class 1 to 8. It shows that the enrolment of girls is more than or relatively equal to, boys from class 1 to 4 with ratios around or above 1.0, but less from class 6 to 8 with ratio below 0.8. This may be explained by girls dropping out of school from class 6. The fall in enrolment in each of the later school years is shown clearly in the graph:

Figure 4: The GPI trend in school enrolment from class 1 to 8

29

The trend in enrolment of boys and girls can also be analyzed per school and by class in terms of Gender Parity Index (ratio of Girls to Boys) as indicated in Table 12 below.

Two schools (103 and 111) however only go up to class four so they have no enrolment data beyond class four, but Bakisano did not provide any data on enrolment at all.

In summary the data indicates that boys and girls enrolment has higher parity closer to 1 in lower primary, while boys and girls enrolment has a wide disparity in favour of boys in upper primary, especially in class six to eight. In terms of schools, 112 primary has the highest disparity showing the widest gender gap. Other schools with a GPI of less than 0.8 (meaning that for every 10 boys enrolled there are fewer than 8 girls) are 108 and 101 primary schools. The indicators of community context

Table 12: Gender Parity Index in Enrolment for all schools for the year 2008

GPI Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Class 6 Class 7 Class 8 TOTAL101 Primary 0.68 0.69 0.93 0.68 0.70 0.40 0.73 0.46 0.67102 Primary 0.88 1.35 0.83 1.13 1.00 0.80 0.50 0.50 0.96103 Primary 1.15 0.92 1.80 1.40 1.20104 Primary 2.54 2.27 0.71 0.79 1.69 1.00 1.44 0.44 1.35105 Primary 0.90 0.57 1.20 2.25 1.00 1.00 1.25 1.33 1.09106 Primary 1.20 0.95 2.50 1.50 0.58 0.60 1.44 0.00 1.13107 Primary 1.23 0.53 0.71 2.00 2.53 1.17 0.06 0.26 0.96108 Primary 2.50 0.61 1.22 0.88 0.50 3.50 1.00 0.27 0.79109 Primary 1.41 1.30 1.03 0.95 1.20 1.00 1.50 1.00 1.31110 Primary 1.00 0.60 0.45 0.80 1.25 1.00 1.00 0.67 0.83111 Primary 1.08112 Primary 0.96 0.59 0.59 0.40 0.08 0.00 0.22 0.14 0.57113 Primary 0.95 0.84 2.09 0.92 1.10 0.79 0.19 0.40 0.94114 Primary 1.20 1.10 0.43 2.33 2.00 0.45 1.14 0.55 1.06115 Primary 1.19 1.33 1.62 0.61 1.44 1.57 0.33 0.47 1.03116 Primary 0.87 1.27 1.04 1.76 1.92 0.50 0.67 0.33 1.02TOTAL 1.09 0.97 1.03 1.04 1.18 0.79 0.67 0.44 0.96


making an impact on gender gap are refl ected by the number of schools with the pastoralist population such as 112, 113, and 101.

Gendered enrolment trends seem to show different patterns in different schools, but overall the GPI has increased slightly from 0.93 in 2006 to 0.95 in 2007 to 0.96 in 2008. Table 7 in the appendix also shows that 112 primary has been reducing its gender gaps in enrolment over the past three years, whilst the gap has widened at 101 and 108 primary schools.

117 is a special school because its entire population is hearing impaired. The enrolment for the special school shown in table 13 indicates that gender ratios vary from year to year, with overall reasonable gender parity.

b) AbsenteeismAttendance records show that 71% of boys enrolled in each of the fourteen schools attend school regularly, while only 68% of the girls enrolled in the same schools attend consistently. The rate of absenteeism is high with close to gender parity (0.96). Table 9 of the appendix shows that the disparities on attendance in different schools. For example,

six schools show a higher attendance rate for girls, with 107 primary having the highest GPI of 1.16, while 106 Primary has the biggest gender gap disadvantaging girls, with a GPI of 0.58.

3.2 Gender Profi le of Progression in Basic Education

a) Drop-out and repetition ratesDrop-out and repetition fi gures are generally diffi cult to obtain from many Kenyan primary schools. This is normally due to the diffi culty for school heads to track whether the pupils have moved to other schools or actually dropped out. Besides, the Ministry of Education policy is against schools making pupils to repeat classes. A survey carried out by the Ministry of Education in 2006 with a sample of 8,000 primary schools show that the dropout rate in primary schools nationally was measured at 6.4 percent. It however, needs to be qualifi ed that this was an extremely conservative estimate, considering that the completion rate has for a long time remained below 50 percent. Regionally, Coast province registered the highest drop-out rate of 7.9% in 2006 and 5.6% in 2007 (Economic Survey, 2008).

Table 13 Enrolment in special school: 117 School for the Deaf

Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Class 6 Class 7 Class 8 Total GPI 0.67 0.80 1.20 0.50 1.50 1.50 0.25 0.93

31

There was little data available for numbers of pupils dropping out in Wenje Division, with data available from less than half the schools and even for these, not for each year group. Thus, drop out statistics should be treated with caution. Dropout rates are presented by class in tables 14 and 15 in the appendix, but dropout rates by class have not been calculated because of lack of equivalent data by class.

Overall data suggests boys’ drop out to be slightly higher (7%) than girls’ (6%), although other data (including enrolment data, district data and qualitative data) suggests that dropout rates are actually higher than what is presented here, and that girls drop out more than boys. 112 Primary School appears to have a high dropout rate compared to other schools. The trend compares with the provincial and national statistics which show that the drop out rate of girls in Coast province was 8.5% while that of boys was 7.3% in 2006, in 2007 the drop out rate was 5.9% for girls and 5.4% for boys, while in 2007, girls’ drop out rate 3.7% against that of boys at 3.2%.

Repetition levels present the data of the pupils who fail to progress to the next level in the same school. There was also little repetition data available. Data was available for twelve schools but this was incomplete. Repetition data is presented by class in tables 12 and 13 in the appendix, but repetition rates by class have not been calculated because of lack of equivalent data by class.

Overall data suggests that approximately the same proportion of girls and boys repeated in 2008, with just over 1 in 5 children repeating (see table 14 below). There is a lot of variation between schools, with repetition varying from less than 10% in schools 106, 107 and 109, to 39% -50% in 102 and 104.

Table 13b: Dropout rates 2008 by school

Girls Boys GPI

NDropout rate N

Drop out rate

102 Primary 8 4% 5 3% 1.67106 Primary 5 5% 4 4% 1.10107 Primary 12 6% 20 10% 0.62109 Primary 5 2% 3 1% 1.27110 Primary 4 5% ND ND 112 Primary 26 27% 42 25% 1.08116 Primary 6 3% 3 2% 1.96TOTAL

66 6% 77 7% 0.87117 primary school for the deaf 7 19% 4 10% 1.89


Table 14: Repetition rates, by school 2008

Girls Boys GPI

N Repetition rate N Repetition rate

102 Primary 71 39% 97 51% 0.76

103 Primary ND ND 1 3% ND

104 Primary 58 44% 39 40% 1.10

106 Primary 7 7% 5 6% 1.24

107 Primary 17 8% 18 9% 0.98

109 Primary 14 5% 20 9% 0.54

110 Primary 30 36% 29 29% 1.24

112 Primary 26 27% 42 25% 1.08

114 Primary 12 16% 9 13% 1.26

115 Primary 27 20% 22 17% 1.19

116 Primary 53 27% 50 26% 1.04

TOTAL 315 21% 332 22% 0.96

a) Overall Progression ratesProgression data was available for 13 of the 17 schools. Table 15 shows the number of children progressing from one class to the next as a proportion of enrolment in each school. Boys are slightly more likely to progress (91%) than girls

(87%) based on this data. There is a lot of variation between schools, with 104 Primary having approximately half of children progressing while other schools have at least 100% progression. There is lessvariation between schools in terms of gender parity, with GPI ranging from 0.86 to 1.07.

33

Table 15: Proportion of girls and boys progressing to the next level by gender and school 2008

Girls Boys GPI

N % N %

101 Primary 122 73% 186 76% 0.97

102 Primary 135 74% 151 79% 0.94

103 Primary 42 100% 34 97% 1.03

104 Primary 64 48% 51 52% 0.93

106 Primany 97 95% 94 104% 0.91

107 Primary 189 94% 183 88% 1.07

109 Primary 256 93% 208 99% 0.94

110 Primary 51 61% 81 80% ND

112 Primary 95 99% 160 96% 1.03

113 Primary 177 94% 217 109% 0.86

114 Primary 70 96% 69 100% 0.96

116 Primary 212 110% 208 110% 1.00

TOTAL 1510 87% 1642 91% 0.96

117 Primary 37 100% 40 100% 1.00

Table 18 in the appendix shows progression by class. It shows that boys’ progression varies more by class than girls’ progression.

3.3 Gender Profi le of Performance in National Examinations

There is one standardized national examination, Kenya Certifi cate of Primary Examination (KCPE) for all primary schools in the country. All pupils complete Standard Eight by sitting for KCPE, to progress to secondary schools. Available data indicates that many children discontinue formal education after KCPE. By the time a class enters Form One, approximately three quarters of the girls who entered Standard One are eliminated from the formal educational system, compared to only two-thirds of the boys who entered Standard 1 at the same time (Krystall, 1978; Kenya Education Directory, 2009).

KPCE exam data was available or partially available for 14 schools. Since small numbers of girls and boys remain in Standard Eight, the pass rates calculated by school are not reliable; these can, however, be found in Table 19 in the appendix. The overall fi nding is that there is a large gender gap in pass rates: 47% of girls and 75% of boys enrolled passed with a score of 250 marks out of the possible 500 marks. This translates into a GPI of 0.62. Overall, 94% of girls and 102% of boys enrolled are entered for exams.

In the next section we report the factors affecting the gendered performance of pupils in KCPE in Wenje division as perceived by pupils and teachers. There is no data for the special school in this case.


3.4 Challenges Girls Face in Wenje The pupils interviewed reported that they face challenges that affect their school attendance and performance in national examinations. These physical, sexual and psychological forms of violence, lack of school facilities especially for the older girls in classes six, seven and eight. The ‘voices’ of the respondents below during interviews or focus group discussions explains some of the challenges that girls face and how they affect their participation in school.

A twelve year old boy states that: “Lack of toilets and water for drinking are the main problems”. On issues specifi c to girls he says that, “Girls walk long distances in search of water and fi rewood, where they meet bad people”.

A girl, aged 13 years, says that: “Sometimes children fi ght and insult each other...Boys usually harass us by forcefully grabbing us on our way home from school. Girls who don’t resist are forced into sexual intercourse and are likely to get pregnant and fi nally drop out of school”.

A girl aged 10 years says that: “The problem with girls is that they get pregnant while still in school and are then forced to leave. Some get married when still young but others just stay at home.”

A girl aged 16 years argues that: “We start menstruation early in class fi ve or six and many girls don’t know what to do. Lack of sanitary pads leads to absenteeism due to fear being embarrassment caused by accidental ‘soiling’. Some girls do not have even underwear and being canned by teachers causes intimidation.

A girl aged 12 years also reports that:

“Problems are there and caning is the main one as it is used as a disciplinary measure by our teachers”.

Although the head teachers interviewed were reluctant to answer questions about girls’ poor performance in school, they cited lack of role models for girls, understaffi ng, and inadequate infrastructure facilities as challenges faced by the schools.

One male head teacher states that: “We do not have a female teacher in our school and therefore girls have no role model and nobody to confi de with on matters that affect them. It is also a sign of role model for the girls in education” (interview with head teacher)

Another male head teacher talks about the defi ciency of facilities like water, toilets, classrooms and the school fence as the major causes of violence against girls:

35

“Insuffi cient classrooms and desks in the school is a big problem, children are forced to sit in the open or on dusty fl oors which can cause health hazards. We don’t have enough latrines for both girls and boys so they sometimes go to the bush where they harass each other.”

A female head teacher says that: “Pupils have the problem of peer pressure where girls are infl uenced by boys and fellow girls into having sexual relationships and this leads to unexpected pregnancies or early marriages. Out of school, there are mature men and women who lure children with money or gifts and then defi le them…Some parents have neglected their responsibility to guide or counsel the girls and instead intimidate, ignore or tell them to seek marriage.”

The parents cite poor teaching methods as an issue affecting girls. One parent in a FGD argues that:

“Teachers’ incompetence, lack of commitment and initiative to teach, and missing lessons discourages girls from attending school. Teachers also insult girls in the assembly, for example, calling them prostitutes. This is common with female teachers and humiliates the girls making them drop out of school”

The community leaders cite include religious infl uence, ignorance of parents on the importance of education, poverty and hunger factors causing drop out in school. One

community leader says that: “Some Muslims do not consider any education beyond ‘madrassa’ which makes children not to take formal education seriously.”

A women group leader adds that: “Many parents are illiterate and do not see the importance of education, so they deny their children from going to school and that is why the Provincial Administration has to intervene each time, with children even being taken to school by force.” “In the village, there is high poverty and mot of us can’t afford to buy basic requirements like books and uniforms, and give children pocket money and so some girls get cheated by men or boys who offer them money and then exploit them sexually.”

The District Education Offi cer cites major issues to be religion infl uence, negligence by parents and promiscuity among the children. He states that:

“Some religions do not take education as a serious investment. Instead they think the children will get converted to Christianity, so they prefer withdrawing the children before proceeding to higher levels of education to avoid getting “spoilt”.

He adds that, “Many girls get lured into early sex by their peers at school or age mates out of school. This leads to early pregnancy and marriage as young mothers feel economically insecure and seek refuge in or are forced into marriage by their parents


3.5 Factors Causing non-attendance of School by Girls

Analysis of quantitative data indicates that there are slight differences in opinion amongst pupils interviewed as to why girls do not attend school. Nevertheless, the reasons seem to be the same across the three age bands 8-10, 11-13 and 14-17 years. They include household chores, looking after younger children, early marriages, parents’ inability to pay school fees/buy uniform/books, and early pregnancy. Though less affected by the mentioned factors, boys also miss school to work in the fi elds/farms and look after animals.

The majority of the respondents believe that many girls are not in school because they get married or pregnant before completing their primary education (Tables 16 and 17). However, 72% of teachers rate household chores as the reason girls are out of school, and 67% cite pregnancy. In addition, 35.4% of the boys rate the household chores as a major reason for girls’ missing school, 42.4% indicate parents’ inability to pay fees or buy school uniform, and 32.2% cite early marriage. Girls rate early marriage (37.5%), household chores (35.7%) and early pregnancies (35.45%) as obstacles to their education.

Table 16: Girls’, boys’ and teachers’ perceptions on why girls are not in school

Reasons for girls out of school Teachers Boys Girls

N % N % N %Household chores 68 72 51 35.4 120 35.7

Married 62 66 45 31.2 126 37.5Parents can’t pay school fees/uniform/books

54 57 61 42.4 103 30.7

Looking after younger children 68 72 54 37.5 107 31.8

Pregnancy 63 67 43 29.9 119 35.4

Illness 49 52 44 30.5 79 23.5

Working in the fi elds/farm/looking after animals

28 30 34 23.6 79 23.5

Looking after unwell family member

44 47 33 22.9 58 17.3

Menstruation 59 63 37 25.7 51 15.2

Punished at school 31 33 24 16.7 54 16.1Puberty/initiation rites 20 21 41 28.5 29 8.6School work too diffi cult 25 27 28 19.4 42 12.5

Selling wares in the market 29 31 33 22.9 31 9.2

Other children are unkind 23 24 11 7.6 37 11

Sexual harassment/abuse at school

31 33 19 13.2 26 7.7

Unsafe journey to/from school 34 36 14 9.7 32 9.5No toilets at school, or toilets not clean, private or safe enough

28 30 18 12.5 23 6.8

*Others 23 25 0 0 0 0

37

*Other reasons mentioned by teachers, with their respective frequencies include: i. Cultural matters, ignorance, illiteracy of parents (5)

ii. Peer pressure from parents and community (1)

iii. Parents have negative attitude towards girl education (2)

iv. Drought and famine (2)

v. Early marriage (1)

vi. Poverty, Hunger, starvation (4)

vii. Lack of sanitary pads (2)

viii. Orphan-hood (3)

ix. FGM (1) x. Religion (2)

For the boys access to education, majority of the teachers (71%) believe that working in the farms and looking after animals is the greatest obstacle, followed by parents inability to pay fees (61%). The boys also see farm work 51% as their major obstacle, while girls (though in a smaller proportion 27%) also support the same cause for boys.

Table 17: Girls’, boys’ and teachers’ perceptions on why boys are not in school

Reasons for boys not attending school

Boys Girls TeachersN % N % N %

Working in the fi elds/farm/looking after animals

74 51.3 92 27.4 67 71

Parents can’t pay school fees/uniform/books

55 38.2 73 21.7 57 61

Selling wares in the market

31 21.5 36 10 22 23.4

Punished at school 35 24.3 29 8.6 20 21.4Illness 24 16.7 39 11.6 39 41.5School work too diffi cult 31 21.5 28 8.3 21 22.3Puberty/initiation rites 34 23.6 18 5.3 20 21.3Married 20 13.9 27 8.0 16 17.0Unsafe journey to/from school

17 11.8 28 8.3 20 21.3

Looking after unwell family member

25 17.4 19 5.6 25 26.5

Household chores 27 18.7 13 3.8 33 35Looking after younger children

21 14.5 11 3.3 18 19

No toilets at school, or toilets not clean, private or safe enough

15 10.4 15 4.5 16 17

Other children are unkind 15 10.4 13 3.8 25 26.6Sexual harassment/abuse at school

5 3.4 4 1.2 12 12.8


Focus group discussions with key informants support the survey fi ndings as indicated by the ‘voices’ below”:

A young mother in the FGD says: “As girls we are given so much work at home such that we cannot read. We are usually exploited, while boys just roam around. Our mothers force us to go and fetch fi rewood in the bushes and even when we sense danger our mothers do not seem to listen. Girls are assigned household chores like cooking, fetching fi rewood and water and child care, which they do after school time . They are then allowed to go back to school for preps during which they are entirely under the close supervision of teachers.

Girls views on parents’ inability to pay fees or buy uniform:

“We also lack basic school things such as uniform and writing materials. In many cases, we just decide to leave because it is not useful going to school without such things”.Girls with children are usually not supported psychologically, materially and child care by the parents, who feel that they are now women and not girls to go back to school.

On menstruation, school girls aged 14-17 had these views:

“During menstruation period, many of us lack sanitary pads and are forced to use rags and even pieces of mattresses instead. We also face humiliation from boys and younger pupils. Many girls experience abdominal

pains, but have no money to buy drugs. These issues force us to skip school.

The distance that pupils travel from home to school is also a factor that negatively affects school participation, especially for girls, in arid/semi-arid sparsely populated districts. Most of the rural districts are without roads and motorized transportation of any kind, and many children have to walk two to three hours school, often traversing inhospitable topologies and hazardous surroundings. In Wenje, insecurity on the way to school prevents parents from allowing their children to attend school:

“On our way to and from school, there are many bushes and sometimes people are attacked by wild animals such as hyenas, buffaloes, lions and snakes. We have also heard of girls being raped on their way to school…” (FGD with school girls aged 11-13).

Poverty and lack of essential facilities like soap and clothes result into girls being lured into sexual acts in exchange for monetary or material support from boys or men in the community:

“There are girls who end up sleeping with several men to get money…The men cheat you with twenty shillings and sleep with you, and when you are pregnant, they leave you, and as a result some girls commit suicide or have abortion. Even if a girl is asked who the father of the child is, she cannot tell because of having so many sexual partners. She then drops out of school”.

39

“Girls in our school get pregnant and decide to get married. Those who do not get married just stay at home with their babies. Our headmaster said that girls and boys should stop having these bad relationships since if they get pregnant, they will not be allowed to stay or come back to school because they will infl uence other children. So in our school no pregnant girl stays in school or comes back to school after delivery.” (FGD with school girls aged 14-17).

“Many pupils, especially girls, drop out of school due to early pregnancies and/or early marriages. The early marriages are normally prearranged by parents who accept money from possible suitors and when their daughters are about 14 or 15 years, they are married off” (Interview with the head teacher).

The community leaders and parents also emphasize on unemployment as a major determinant of school participation by pupils. Children do not take their education seriously because they do not see its future benefi ts leading to high level of drop-outs. The ‘voices’ of two community leaders captured this well:

“There are fi fteen to twenty form four leavers in this village alone with no jobs and the younger pupils sometimes end up being discouraged and then despair We also have four boys who passed well and got admitted to provincial schools, but are still stranded due to lack of school fees…”

“Here in the village, there are many challenges which include poverty as well as despair and drop out. We have bright pupils in our class eight, some of whom are orphans and they are likely to perform well, and we badly need to be assisted lest they be wasted.”

Continuing importance placed on the cultural practices such as bride price, polygamy, adultery fi nes, negatively affects parents support and girls’ attitude towards education. Generally, girls are seen as important sources of income for their families. The early they are married off the better. This means that marriage is given more priority than education.

Existing cultural expectations, norms and values also infl uence the pattern of girls’ participation in formal education. Among the Wenje community, parents wish to protect their daughters from contact with “alien” and non-traditional infl uences. Religion, especially Islam, has often been associated with low female participation in “Western style” schools, which are perceived to spread non-Muslim ideology and modern culture. Some religious leaders, therefore, prefer Islamic education for fear that Western style education, may promote values and behaviours that are contrary to the accepted view of an ideal woman/wife - submissive, obedient and contented to enjoy the status of her husband. Formal education also brings about change in the prescribed roles of women which have been rigidly defi ned by religion and custom. The pastoralists’ nomadic way of life also affects the education of the children.


Community leaders said that:“The infl uence of the Muslim teaching that there is no education beyond ‘Madraasa’ really affects the education of our children.The old mentality that by Standard Eight the girls should get married, shows that girls’ education is not highly regarded here.” “Our children do not get adequate education because the parents keep moving from place to place in search of pasture and water. The children are forced to move with their parents making drop out of school temporarily or permanently. The parents also arrange for marriages of their daughters to the people of their choice in our culture to get bride wealth and protect purity.” (Interviews with community leaders).

Initiation ceremonies like circumcision are important cultural practices in some Kenyan communities. In Wenje Division, FGM is still practiced, especially by the Wardei community. This initiation brings several dilemmas for girls. First, the scheduling of initiation ceremonies quite often confl icts with the school calendar leading to absenteeism from school. This was confi rmed during interviews and focus group discussions:

“FGM is the main problem among the girls in the Wardei Community. From Hara to Bula and Gafuru, all the girls must go through this practice, which is meant to protect their virginity. This practice makes the woman (and girl) to suffer unbearable pain during circumcision, and later during intercourse, and child birth. (FGD with out of school girls)

Secondly, although initiation marks the passage from childhood to adulthood, school authorities continue to treat initiated girls who return to school as children, and this makes the girls opt out of school. Many initiated girls also fi nd it diffi cult to return to or concentrate on formal schooling because the next expectation is usually marriage (Njau and Wamahiu, 1994).

3.6 Teachers’ Profi le in WenjeThe overall Pupil/Teacher Ratio in Wenje division is 43.3:1, which is higher than the national ratio for three consecutive years at 42.3 in 2005, 42.5 in 2006 and 42.9 in 2007, but less than Coast province with 53.2 in 2007 (MoE, 2008). The district also has a lower ratio of 41.8 pupils to one teacher (District Education Report, 2009). In addition to the high pupil/ teacher ratio, Wenje division has few female teachers comprising of only 25.5% of the teaching force. At the district level, 33% of teachers are female (DEO’s report, 2009). Table 18 below shows the distribution of the teaching force by gender and the variation of Pupil/Teacher ratios in all the project schools.

41

Table 18: Teacher qualifi cation and ratio to pupils enrolled in all schools

Number of Teachers Total (female) Total (male) Total (all) GPI Pupil Teacher ratio N :1

101 Primary 3 5 8 0.6 52:1102 Primary 0 7 7 0 54:1103 Primary 2 0 2 ∞ 39:1104 Primary 3 4 7 0.75 33:1105 Primary 2 5 7 0.4 16:1113 Primary 0 7 7 0 49:1106 Primary 1 5 6 0.2 32:1107 Primary 2 6 8 0.33 52:1108 Primary 0 6 6 0 32:1109 Primary 3 5 8 0.6 61:1110 Primary 2 5 7 0.4 27:1111 Primary 0 2 2 0 50:1112 Primary 0 8 8 0 61:1114 Primary1 3 3 6 1 24:1115 Primary 3 4 7 0.75 45:1116 Primary 2 4 6 0.5 55:1Overall PTR 26 76 1022 0.34 43:1


The pupil/teacher ratio is lowest in 105 primary school at 16:1, and highest in 112 and 109 primary schools both having 61:1, with wide variations in other schools.

In the interviews, the head teachers cited understaffi ng, and in particular, shortage of female teachers, as a key problem faced by schools in the division as indicated in the summary below:

“Lack of a female teacher is the problem since girls have nobody to confi de in matters that relate to women and girls” (Head teachers’ interview).

“Understaffi ng is a big problem in the schools in the division, for instance a pupil population of 400 to 600 against eight teachers is limiting in terms of delivery.” (Head Teachers’ interview).

In the project schools there are a total of 102 teachers, 76.5% of who are male while 25.5% are female. Table 21a in the appendix shows the comparative qualifi cations of male and female teachers. The table shows that male teachers have higher levels of qualifi cations than female teachers. Approximately two-thirds of women and slightly less men have a P14 qualifi cation, while 14.1% of men and only 6.3% of women have ATS 5. Most of those with ATS are head

4 P1 refers to trained teachers with a Primary One Certifi cate being the entry qualifi cation for primary school teachers.

5 ATS 4 refers to Approved Teacher Scale 4, granted to teachers on merit of experience and evaluation by the MoE

teachers. Only in two schools are there equal numbers of female and male teachers or more female teachers. In all the rest, the majority of staff is male, with no women teachers at all in fi ve schools.

3.7 School Environmenta) School Management Committee composition, role and

activitiesAll the project schools visited have an average of fourteen School Management Committee (SMCs) members each. These committees are, however, male dominated – 70% male and 30% female members. The composition of the school committees shows that one school has six female committee members and another school has fi ve female committee members. Of the sixteen schools, 62.5% of the schools have only four female committee members. On the other hand, 31% of the schools have eight male members each, 37.5% have nine male members each while two have eleven male committee members each. The school committees meet twice or thrice a term. This means that the committees meet during opening and closing sessions or at most monthly unless there is an emergency. A male committee member states that:

“We meet once per term and when there is any urgent matter, or when something arises like immediate project and indiscipline cases”. (Interview with committee members).

43

The role of the SMC is to gauge performance of the pupils, tackle development projects and discuss cases of indiscipline.

“We access the whole process of learning in school from nursery to class eight, participate in the school development activities such as building more classrooms and soliciting for funding.As representatives of the parents we also monitor and report on the performance of the school , deal with issues and challenges affecting the pupils and teachers, discuss school development issues, encourage the pupils who do not perform well”. (Interview with SMC members).

The committee members have not received any training on school management but they usually follow the schools guidelines given by the Ministry of Education. The pupils are, however, not represented in the schools’ committees. Even the Ministry of Education guideline does not provide for such inclusion.

b) InfrastructureIn Wenje division there are insuffi cient toilets in schools andtheir conditions do not meet health standards. Accordingto the Government’s school infrastructure guideline ofthe Free Primary Education policy 2003, KESSP 2005, therecommended pupils’ toilets ratio is as follows:

Suffi cient one toilet for 30 or less pupilsStrained one toilet for 31 to 50 pupilsInsuffi cient one toilet for 51 to 70 pupilsPoor one toilet for 71 to 100 pupil.Hazardous one toilet for 101 or more pupils

Out of sixteen schools there are only four schools with suffi cient pupil/toilet ratio of 30 or less pupils per toilet. These are 110 primary, 111 primary, 108 primary, and 107 primary schools. As indicated in Table 19 the rest are either strained or hazardous lacking in the required sanitary facilities available for both girls and boys. Toilets in schools 106, 102, 105 and 104 are hazardous.


Table 19: The pupils’ toilet ratio

PUPILS TOTALTOILETS

FUNCTIONAL WITH PRIVACY PUPIL : TOILETRATIO

CONDITION

101 Primary 487 8 8 3 61 INSUFFICIENT

102 Primary 410 3 3 3 137 HAZARDOUS

116 Primary 387 4 4 4 97 POOR



106 Primany 487 3 3 3 162 HAZARDOUS

111 Primary 50 2 2 0 25 SUFFICIENT


109 Primary 185 5 5 5 37 STRAINED



112 Primary 192 2 2 2 96 POOR

113 Primary 188 ND ND ND ND ND





45

Five schools have toilets with no privacy besides having insuffi cient facilities. This poses a serious challenge to girls’ education due to lack of privacy.

Figure 5: Girls’ Toilet at 105 Primary school

All the schools except two – schools 111 and 103 have complete classes (Standard 1- 8). Most of the schools have permanent buildings for classrooms except 114 Primary School. Seven schools have water tanks for clean drinking water (mainly from rain harvesting/roof catchments). Only three schools in the division have a perimeter fence. These developments have been facilitated through the Government support through Constituency Development Fund (CDF). Organizations like Action Aid Kenya have also funded infrastructure development in some schools like 104, 110 and 112.

Figure 6: Classroom block at 114 Primary School

A head teacher cites the defi ciency of facilities like water, toilets, classroom and the school fence as factors contributing to low participation of girls in school:

“Insuffi cient desks are a problem. Pupils are forced to sit in the dusty fl oor because classrooms are not cemented. There are no separate toilets for boys and girls, as we have only three toilets serving 420 pupils.“Girls are the majority and they have no toilets or sanitary facilities hence some of them do not come to school during those days of menstruation since they lack privacy.”

c) School policies on violence against girlsMost of the schools (15 out of 17 or 88.2 %) have no written policy or procedures on violence against girls (Table 20). Only two (11.8%) schools have the policy on violence against girls written and kept in the school head’s offi ce.


Table 20: Number of schools with each type of policy

Types of policy in school N %

VAGS policy 2 11.8%

Teachers’ code of conduct 17 100%

Teachers Trained in rights, VAGS and gender issues

0 0%

Lessons in life skills, VAGS or Negotiation 0 0%

Separate functioning toilets for girls 9 52.9%

Active girls clubs 0 0%

Have a written policy 1 5.88%

A nine year-old girl explains how they are told to behave in school.

“Yes the school has rules that say teachers should teach us, and that pupils should respect their teachers. Teachers should also avoid being too close to their pupils and touching their private parts”

Some head teachers say that the teachers have gone through trainings on life skills and issues of gender. Some of these trainings are part of the teachers’ training curriculum but the only problem is that teachers and head teachers do not document such trainings as part of school records. One head teacher explains that:

“There was training on the HIV/AIDS awareness at the Garrisa Teachers Training College in the April vacation. The teachers learnt about toilets that are and are not user-friendly. At least four teachers attended the training and this changed their approach towards violence against girls”. (Interview with head teacher).

“There has also been the training by Action Aid. The specifi c training on the violence against the girl-child was useful because the parents, SMC, teachers are now increasingly aware of children’s rights. The curriculum touches on these aspects but not deeply as the issue of HIV/AIDS which has been integrated in the topics.” (interview with head teacher)

3.8 Attitudes on Gender Roles in SchoolDuring the survey, pupils were asked different questions about attributes, intelligence and household chores. This was done to gauge their perceptions on the roles of boys/men and girls/women in their community and society at large. When asked about whom they think was more intelligent – boys or girls, the majority of boys said boys as more intelligent, while girls said boys and girls are equally intelligent. The majority of teachers felt that boys and girls are equally intelligent although very few teachers viewed girls as more intelligent (see table 21).

Table 21: Pupils’ and teachers’ perceptions on gender

47

attributes and roles: intelligence

Category Gender Who is more intelligent?

boys girls both boys and girls don’t know not answered Total

Pupils

male 91 21 25 4 5 146

62.3% 14.4% 17.1% 2.7% 3.4% 100.0%

female 91 124 102 14 3 334

27.2% 37.1% 30.5% 4.2% .9% 100.0%

Teachers

male 9 1 54 1 7 72

12.5% 1.4% 75.0% 1.4% 9.7% 100.0%

female 6 2 13 0 1 22

27.3% 9.1% 59.1% .0% 4.5% 100.0%

Tables 22 to 25 show children’s and teachers’ views on gender roles. Girls’ and boys’ views on gendered roles were marked, with the majority of girls and boys viewing household chores as a girl’s activity, and tending – though less strongly – to see farm work as a boys’ activity.

Teachers were more likely to see these activities as appropriate for both boys and girls, though a sizeable minority still expressed gender differentiated views, with almost a third of male teachers and half of female teachers expressing the view that girls should assist most with household chores.

None of the male teachers felt that boys should help more with household chores. Some teachers support en-gendering of roles out of school, though this was less evident within school, with the vast majority of teachers viewing it equally important for girls and boys to go to school, and for both to help with school chores.

Likewise, the majority of girls and boys see school as equally important for them, and boys seem to have slightly more equitable views on helping with school chores than girls, who see carrying out school chores as a girls’ task.


Table 22: Pupils’ and teachers’ perceptions on gender attributes and roles: housework

Respondents Gender Who should help the family the most with housework?

boys girls both boys and girls

don’t know not answered Total

Pupils

male 21 96 23 1 5 146

14.4% 65.8% 15.8% .7% 3.4% 100.0%

female 15 292 21 1 5 334

4.5% 87.4% 6.3% .3% 1.5% 100.0%

Teachers

male 0 22 42 1 7 72

.0% 30.6% 58.3% 1.4% 9.7% 100.0%

female 0 10 11 1 0 22

.0% 45.5% 50.0% 4.5% .0% 100.0%

49

Table 23: Pupils’ and teachers’ perceptions on gender attributes and roles: farm work

Respondents Gender Who should help the family the most with farm work?

boys girls both boys and girls don’t know not answered Total

Pupils

male 69 16 57 1 3 146

47.3% 11.0% 39.0% .7% 2.1% 100.0%

female 153 71 100 4 6 334

45.8% 21.3% 29.9% 1.2% 1.8% 100.0%

Teachers

male 21 1 40 1 9 72

29.2% 1.4% 55.6% 1.4% 12.5% 100.0%

female 4 1 16 1 0 22

18.2% 4.5% 72.7% 4.5% .0% 100.0%

Table 24: Pupils’ and teachers’ perceptions on gender attributes and roles: schooling

Respondents Gender For whom is it more important to go to school?

boys girls both boys and girls don’t know not answered TotalPupils

male 42 14 87 0 3 14628.8% 9.6% 59.6% .0% 2.1% 100.0%

female 37 103 189 3 2 33411.1% 30.8% 56.6% .9% .6% 100.0%

Teachers

male 4 0 60 2 6 725.6% .0% 83.3% 2.8% 8.3% 100.0%

female 0 0 22 0 0 22.0% .0% 100.0% .0% .0% 100.0%


Table 25a: Pupils’ and teachers’ perceptions on gender attributes and roles: school chores

Respondents Gender Who should help more with carrying out school chores?

boys girls both boys and girls

don’t know not answered Total

Pupils

male 17 31 92 3 3 146

11.6% 21.2% 63.0% 2.1% 2.1% 100.0%

female 19 160 153 0 2 334

5.7% 47.9% 45.8% .0% .6% 100.0%

Teachers

male 0 2 60 2 8 72

.0% 2.8% 83.3% 2.8% 11.1% 100.0%

female 0 2 20 0 0 22

.0% 9.1% 90.9% .0% .0% 100.0%

During interviews the differentiated treatment of girls and boys also emerged. Pupils ‘voices’ below attest to this:

“In most cases we do the same chores at home apart from caring for the younger siblings and fetching water and fi rewood which are done by my sisters” (A twelve year-old boy).

“At home we are treated differently but at school, both girls and boys are treated equally, but I feel both girls and boys should be treated equally always” (A twelve year-old girl).

“At home girls do more than boys. Girls do cleaning, cooking, farm work, looking after children. Boys only do cleaning and

farming, but I think they should be treated the same way because all are capable and are equal”. (A twelve year-old girl)

Other views on gender and school disciplinePupils and teachers were asked a number of questions to assess their attitudes towards gender equality and gender violence (see table 25b). The majority of pupils expressed gender-equitable views about punishment, with about two thirds of the girls and boys disagreeing that girls or boys should be asked to do personal errands for teachers, like cleaning their homes. A vast majority disagreed with girls or boys being asked to do hard physical punishment at school, though only a third of boys and a quarter of girls disagreed

51

with whipping to maintain discipline. Most teachers also disagreed with harsh physical punishments and with boys or girls being asked to do personal errands for teachers. More teachers than pupils disagreed with whipping for discipline, with around two thirds of teachers disagreeing with whipping girls. Half of the female teachers disagreed with whipping boys, and a similar proportion agreed that boys and girls should receive the same punishment.

Most pupils and teachers rejected violence between boyfriends and girlfriends. Though only a minority view, it is worrying that 10% of male teachers and 17% of girls

and boys still think that a boy sometimes needs to beat a girlfriend who misbehaves or to show he loves her. The majority of teachers and pupils agree that teachers having sexual relationships with pupils should be dismissed, and the majority of teachers disagree with the view that it is a girl’s fault if she is sexually harassed. Over half the pupils – both girls and boys – felt that the girl is to blame for sexual harassment by a teacher, older man or boy. Most teachers and pupils agreed that girls should be allowed to return to school after giving birth, and most teachers also felt that boys who impregnate girls should be able to remain at school.


Table 25b: Pupil and teacher views on gender and violence

Proportion of respondents holding views considered to be pro rights/gender equality/anti-violence

Pupils TeachersMale female male female

Agreeing that boys and girls should receive the same punishment in school 102 209 41 1169.9% 62.6% 56.9% 50.0%

Disagreeing that it is okay for teachers to ask girls to do personal errands e.g. cleaning teachers’ houses or fetching water.

92 236 61 1863.0% 70.7% 84.7% 81.8%

Disagreeing that it is okay for teachers to ask boys to do personal errands e.g. cleaning teachers’ houses or fetching water.

90 228 60 1962.1% 68.3% 83.3% 86.4%

Disagreeing that it is okay for teachers to whip boys to maintain discipline in school or class

49 87 48 1133.6% 26.0% 66.7% 50.0%

Disagreeing that it is okay for teachers to whip girls to maintain discipline in school or class

53 93 49 1436.3% 27.8% 68.1% 63.6%

Disagreeing that it is okay to ask boys to do hard, physical punishment at school, such as digging pit latrines

130 269 59 1989.0% 80.5% 81.9% 86.4%

Disagreeing that it is okay to ask girls to do hard, physical punishment at school, such as digging pit latrines

126 296 59 1886.3% 88.6% 81.9% 81.8%

Disagreeing that a boy sometimes needs to beat a girlfriend who misbehaves or to show he loves her

111 260 53 1876.0% 77.8% 73.6% 81.8%

Disagreeing that a girl sometimes needs to beat a boyfriend who misbehaves or to show she loves him

119 274 56 1881.5% 82.0% 77.8% 81.8%

Agreeing that teachers who have a sexual relationship with a pupil should be dismissed and not allowed to teach again.*

62 155 47 1666.7% 67.4% 65.3% 72.7%

Disagreeing that if a girl is sexually harassed by a teacher, older man or boy then it is her own fault.*

44 87 57 1847.3% 36.0% 79.2% 81.8%

Agreeing that girls should be allowed to return to school after giving birth?* 64 191 57 2168.8% 83.0% 79.2% 95.5%

Disagreeing that if a male pupil impregnates a female pupil, should he have to leave school? *

38 111 54 1940.9% 48.3% 75.0% 86.4%

*Question not asked to children aged 8-10.

53

Summary In Wenje division, the fi ndings on views and attitudes to rights, gender equality and violence are encouraging, with strong support amongst many teachers and pupils for gender equitable perspectives. A minority of teachers and pupils, however, continue to hold views which discriminate against girls, and there is clearly a need for training of teachers, girls and boys on gender and rights issues.

There is also evidence of gender inequality as seen in the national and district trends. Enrolment of girls is still lower than that of boys, while more girls than boys become absent from school more often, particularly in the later years of primary schools. The factors for girls’ poor performance include

household chores, under-age pregnancies, and early marriages, among others. Poor school facilities such as lack of toilets, contributes to girls’ absenteeism due to lack of privacy during menstruation. It is also clear that understaffi ng contributes to poor quality of education as a result of a large number of pupils being attended to by one teacher, which reduces the teacher pupil contact hours. In addition, there is a particular shortage of well qualifi ed female teachers, or of women involved in school management, either as head teachers or on the school management committees. The school management committee’s role is limited to handling development projects and handling emergencies, and the pupils do not participate at all in the decision making process in the schools. This has made it diffi cult to deal with issues affecting the pupils.


4: VIOLENCE AGAINST GIRLS IN SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES

therefore, found it prudent to directly ask pupils (boys and girls) and other participants, how children are treated at home, on the way to school and in school, including during the teaching-learning processes. From their responses, one can examine how violence and discriminatory practices are situated within everyday interactions and relationships.

4.3 Patterns of Physical ViolencePupils were asked about whether they had seen or experienced the following forms of violence:• Beating (punching, kicking or slapping)

• Grabbing (pulling hair, pinching or twisting ear lobes)

• Use of weapons (sticks, stones, knives)

4.1 IntroductionThis Chapter highlights the fi ndings on the patterns of different forms of violence. The forms of violence against girls, its frequency, location and the perpetrators of physical, sexual and psychological forms of violence will be discussed, together with an analysis of the different ways in which respondents understand and interpret these experiences.

4.2 Meanings of ViolenceThe term ‘violence against girls’, and women for that matter, in an African cultural/traditional setting, remains a controversial and sensitive phrase. This is because of norms, values, and traditions, which for decades have condoned some practices that would automatically qualify as ‘violence’ in Western societies. In many African societies (traditional or not) individuals have been socialized to accept gender differentiated roles and treatment– some of them discriminatory – as a way of life and good for societal balance.

The survey did not seek the meanings of the phrase “violence against girls” in Wenje Division, which has all the characteristics of a traditional African society. We,

55

• Whipping or caning

• Being made to kneel/squat for long periods

• Other forms of physical violence

The survey shows that more boys than girls have witnessed physical violence like beating, whipping, and attack with weapons (see Table 25 Appendix). Figure 9 below illustrates the proportion of girls and boys experiencing different forms of physical violence. It suggests that vulnerability to physical violence may not be highly gendered, with similar proportions of girls and boys experiencing different forms of violence.

Overall, boys appear to be more vulnerable to beating, and slightly more likely to experience whipping and violence through use of weapons, whilst girls are more vulnerable to being grabbed and forced to kneel for long periods. The vast majority (over 4 in 5) of girls and boys have been whipped, almost two-thirds reported beatings and smaller portions (a quarter to a third) reported experiencing the other forms of physical violence.

Figure 7: Proportion of boys and girls who experienced physical violence, by type of violence

Whipping and beating are predominant forms of physical violence.

“In most cases those who lack respect or misbehave are whipped by teachers. It applies to all, both girls and boys across the board” (A thirteen year old girl).

Beating of girls is common at home as another thirteen year-old girl reports :

“My mum beats me most of the time at home. If I do anything slightly wrong she canes me….while in school sometimes boys and girls fi ght and are taken to the head teacher’s offi ce where they are again beaten.”

A male parent who is a committee member also reports that:


“... a girl was beaten in this village next to the school for refusing to marry another boy according to the wishes of the parents.”

Another male School Committee chairman says that whipping is unavoidable:

“If the cane (whipping) is done away with, it will not work in schools (it will not be easy to manage the schools) because if the pupils don’t have discipline then they will be very diffi cult to deal with.”

Table 26 in the Appendix shows physical violence as experienced by each age group. It shows that while girls and boys are beaten to the same extent in the youngest age group (aged 8-10) this seems to go down once girls reach the age of 11, but goes up for boys. The patterns on grabbing follow a similar trend for both boys and girls declining from 40% and 42% respectively at lower age group, then drops signifi cantly to 19% for boys, whilst for girls it only drops slightly to 28%. Interestingly, the patterns for assault with weapons shows that slightly more boys experience this act overall, but in the middle age range girls seem to experience this more than boys (38% compared to 32%).

Table 26: Frequency of physical violence

Type of violence

Gender Rarely (less than once a year)

Often (every 3-4 months)

Very often (1-4 times a month)

All the time (3+ times a week)

Not Answered

N % N % N % N % N %Beating Male 57 56.4% 18 17.8% 16 15.8% 8 7.9% 2 2.0%

Female 103 52.3% 47 23.9% 29 14.7% 17 8.6% 1 0.5%Grabbing Male 14 29.8% 8 17.0% 13 27.7% 12 25.5% 0 0%

Female 60 49.6% 29 24.0% 17 14.0% 14 11.6% 1 0.8%Weapon Male 26 55.3% 9 19.1% 8 17.0% 3 6.4% 1 2.1%

Female 46 46.5% 43 43.4% 6 6.1% 4 4.0% 0 0%Whipping Male 70 56.5% 17 13.7% 14 11.3% 22 17.7% 1 1%

Female 131 47.8% 90 42.8% 34 12.4% 19 6.9% 0 0%Kneeling Male 17 42.5% 11 27.5% 8 20.0% 4 10.0% 0 0%

Female 50 50.0% 38 38.0% 7 7.0% 5 5.0% 0 0%Other Male 5 83.3% 0 0% 0 0% 1 16.7% 0 0%

Female 2 40.0% 2 40.0% 1 20.0% 0 0% 0 0%

57

Frequency of physical violenceAll the mentioned forms of physical violence rarely occur according to the pupils who have experienced each type of violence, as shown in table 26 below. Attack with a weapon is the most unlikely to occur to boys and girls frequently, followed by beating and kneeling. Boys are more likely than girls to report frequent experiences of physical violence.

Locations of physical violenceRespondents were asked to indicate where the most recent account of reported violence occurred. Their responses are tabulated in Table 27. Beating of girls took place more frequently in the home, whilst most other forms of violence were more common in the school. Most of these school-based incidents of physical violence took place in the school compound and the classrooms. It is also evident that, with the exception of whipping of boys, few cases of violence occur in the head teachers’ offi ces or in the staffroom and no students talked about incidents around toilets or teachers houses.

Table 27: Percentage of pupils citing locations of each type of violence*

Schooltotal

Schoolcompound

In andenteringclassro

Playground/schoolground

In andaroundtoilets

Headteacher’soffice/

Teachers’houses

Beating Male 54.5 11.9 33.7 27.7 2.0 2.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 101Female 60.7 5.1 34.1 31.6 1.5 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 196

Grabbing Male 36.2 2.1 53.2 38.3 12.8 0.0 0.0 2.1 0.0 8.5 0.0 47Female 47.9 3.3 47.9 34.7 11.6 1.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.8 0.0 121

Weapon Male 57.4 8.5 27.7 21.3 2.1 4.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.4 0.0 47Female 36.4 4.0 52.5 31.3 20.2 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.1 99

Whipping Male 29.8 5.6 62.1 39.5 11.3 0.8 0.0 10.5 0.0 0.0 1.6 124Female 37.6 3.3 57.7 39.4 15.3 0.4 0.0 2.6 0.0 0.0 1.1 274

Kneeling Male 25.0 12.5 55.0 45.0 7.5 0.0 0.0 2.5 0.0 7.5 0.0 40Female 26.3 4.0 65.7 46.5 17.2 1.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 99

TotalN

In school %Type ofviolence

Gender Home/village%

To/fromschool%

Other%

Notanswered %


* For girls and boys who have experienced each type of violence, location of most recent incident (percentage)Perpetrators of physical violence

The fi ndings indicate that the major perpetrators for beating are fellow pupils while the main perpetrators for whipping are male teachers. An important fi nding is the high numbers of boys and girls citing female teachers whipping them,

despite the female teachers’ small proportion in the schools (See Table 28).

Table 28: Perpetrators of violence for each type of physical violence reported by pupils*

Perpetrator of each form of violence

Beating % Grabbing % Weapon % Whipping % Kneeling %M F M F M F M F M F

Fellow pupil (female) 18.0 29.4 10.6 13.2 10.9 33.3 9.7 16.1 7.5 7.0

Fellow pupil (male) 49.0 20.8 23.4 7.4 39.1 11.1 0.8 2.2 2.5 2.0

Teacher (f) 5.0 3.6 12.8 12.4 6.5 16.2 31.5 23.4 35.0 34.0

Teacher (m) 7.0 6.1 19.1 21.5 8.7 14.1 35.5 27.0 37.5 40.0

Family member (f) 3.0 16.8 10.6 30.6 17.4 6.1 5.6 16.8 0.0 5.0

Family member (m) 7.0 14.2 10.6 10.7 4.3 6.1 7.3 6.2 5.0 2.0

Girlfriend 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.8 2.9 2.5 6.0

Boyfriend 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.0

Community member (f) 3.0 4.1 6.4 1.7 2.2 2.0 1.6 1.1 7.5 0.0

Community member (m) 7.0 2.0 0.0 2.5 8.7 3.0 4.8 0.7 0.0 0.0

Other 1.0 1.0 2.1 0.0 2.2 0.0 2.4 0.0 2.5 0.0

Not answered 0.0 0.5 4.3 0.0 0.0 7.1 0.0 3.3 0.0 4.0

N total 100 197 47 121 46 99 124 274 40 100

59

* For girls and boys who have experienced each type of violence, perpetrator of most recent incident (percentage)Boys are most commonly beaten by fellow boys while girls are most commonly beaten by fellow girls. Whipping and kneeling are used most commonly by teachers, with both male and female teachers perpetrating these forms of punishment. Family members are more likely to use most forms of physical violence against girls than against boys. Beating, grabbing and whipping of girls appear to be common practices by female family members. Many forms of physical abuse occur in the context of disciplining the child and hence the widespread support of corporal punishment.

4.4 Patterns of Sexual Violence Pupils were asked about whether they had seen or experienced themselves different forms of sexual violence. The forms of sexual violence they were asked about were:• Peeping (in toilets, mirrors, under desks)

• Touching/ pinching breasts, buttocks, and other private parts

• Sexual comments

• Forced/ unwanted sex

• Forced or coerced sex in exchange for food, gifts, grades, or money (the youngest age group [of 8-10 years] was not asked this question)

• Other forms of sexual violence

Figure 8 below indicates pupils’ responses on personal experience of sexual violence. The analysis indicates that girls experience more incidents of sexual violence than boys. The proportion of boys reporting having experienced each forms of sexual violence is lower than that of girls, except for the cases of sexual comments, where there is not a big gender difference.

Figure 8: Proportion of girls and boys who experience different forms of sexual violence

21.70%

24.70%

19.90%

9.80% 9.50%12.50%

18.80% 19.40%

2.80%5.60%

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

Peeping Touching Sexualcomments

Forced sex Sex forgoods

Percentages

Types of Violence

Propotion of Pupils who Experience Sexual Violence byGender and Form of Violence

Girls

Boys


The qualitative data indicates evidence of sexual violence as reported by school girls. This was common and meted by fellow pupils, relatives and other community members. The following narrative illustrates some of the common cases:

“Sexual violence in schools is quite rampant among the pupils themselves. Those at the age of fi fteen (girls) are mature enough to have sex with their male pupils in schools. The boys touch them on the breasts and/or buttocks as they come out from classrooms during tea or lunch break. Some of these girls report to their parents at home, but others seem to enjoy it. As parents, we however, feel that it is the teachers’ responsibility to control such incidences. Some community members also coerce school girls, especially those from classes fi ve to eight for sexual favours.” (FGD with mothers)

“Girls face threats of rape from relatives, especially male relatives when mothers are away from home. Others silence them with pieces of cloth. Older cousins also rape younger female cousins. The girls report to their mothers and aunties, who usually do not believe them.” (FGDs with school girls aged 14-17 years)

In the qualitative interviews, there were few reported cases of boys being the victims of sexual abuse, and this may be due to the fact that sexual abuse of boys is less likely to be

reported than that of girls. The cultural and social roots of sexual abuse of females is also illuminated by the fact that many girls believe that sexual harassment is ‘normal’ and usually instigated by a girl’s choice of clothing and behaviour.

Focusing on the patterns of different forms of violence by pupils’ age, there is evidence (see Table 27 Appendix) that girls experience a lot more peeping than boys at all ages, but more so at a lower age group. The proportion of girls being touched or receiving comments goes up with age whereas the opposite trend can be seen for boys. with age whereas the opposite trend can be seen for boys.

Frequency of sexual violenceAlthough sexual violence is experienced by fewer girls and boys than physical violence, the cases that are reported occur frequently (Table 29). For example, of those girls who have experienced forced sex or sex for goods, money or favours, most reported that this has happened often. This means that acts of sexual violence are not isolated events, but frequent events for some girls in these communities.

Location of sexual violence Most sexual violence takes place in the home/village or in school. Sexual touching of girls for example is more likely to happen at school, while forced sex and sex for goods take place more often in the home/village. Few cases of sexual violence happened on the journey to/from school (See Table 28 in the Appendix)

61

Coerced sex and other forms of sexual harassment in some cases extend into classrooms, some of which are reported by girls to the teachers, while some cases go unreported (as discussed further in the next chapter). The girls say that:

“Even in class boys like touching girls. They also pass notes and send letters to girls. They ask girls to do bad things (have sexual relationship) and if girls refuse, they spread bad rumours or lies such as having had sex with the girls. When such things happen, we report to the teacher. Sometimes, they are punished, but at times they are sent home to call their parents”. (FGDs with school girls11-13)

Perpetrators of sexual violence Of girls who reported experiencing each type of violence, a signifi cant proportion of the most recent incidents were carried out by fellow pupils and teachers. Community members are also commonly named as perpetrators of sexual violence.

In the qualitative interviews and focus group discussions, many girls explained that sexual violence by boys was common, and that it occurred at school, on the way to school, and in the villages. None of the sexual violence

Table 29: Frequency of sexual violence

Type of violence Gender Rarely (less than once a year)

Often (every 3-4 months)



Not Answered

N % N % N % N % N %Peep Male 10 52.6% 7 36.8% 0 0% 2 10.5% 0 0%

Female 34 47.2% 31 43.1% 2 2.8% 5 6.9% 0 0%Touching Male 11 37.9% 10 34.5% 5 17.2% 1 3.4% 2 6.9%

Female 23 28.4% 50 61.7% 6 7.4% 2 2.5% 0 0.0%Comment Male 11 37.9% 7 24.1% 4 13.8% 7 24.1% 0 0%

Female 20 30.3% 41 62.1% 4 6.1% 1 1.5% 0 0%Forced Sex Male 2 40.0% 1 20.0% 0 0% 1 20.0% 1 20.0%

Female 7 21.9% 25 78.1% 0 0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%Sex for goods Male 0 0.0% 6 75.0% 2 25.0% 0 0.0% 0 0%

Female 6 18.8% 22 68.8% 2 6.2% 2 6.2% 0 0%Other Male 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%

Female 2 100% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%


described by girls in the individual and group discussions was perpetrated by women or girls. In the qualitative interviews with boys, sexual violence was only mentioned by one boy, who reported that he had been sexually abused by an old man during prayers. The following accounts illustrate girls’ experience of sexual violence: “In the village boys really harass us, they follow us to the bush or to the farms and grab us by force to do ‘bad things’. We only make noise or run to hide further in the bush.” (School girls aged 14)

“I was once lured by a boy in our class into a sexual relationship when he called me to go and help him do something in the bush between our home and school. I resisted totally then he wrestled me down….I ran away and told him that I would report to my mother. The boy was very annoyed and threatened me with bad consequences if I reported him. He always looks for reasons to beat me so I can’t report what happened”. (A girl in the FGD with school girls 10-13 years recounts her experiences).

“One day a boy approached me from the back and touched my breasts. This happens to other girls in school and in the village. Sometimes they touch other girls’ buttocks and thighs on our way to school. They hide in the bush and scare us, sometimes they also approach us and we run away.” (A thirteen year old girl)

The perpetrators in their accounts were usually boys, but some girls talked about being attacked by or forced to have sex with

men. More often these were strangers, and one group of girls reported that they were threatened in this way by men from a different ethnic group. There were other accounts of the journey between school and home being unsafe:

“On our way to and from school there are many bushes and sometimes people are attacked by wild animals such as hyenas, buffaloes, lions and snakes. We have also heard of girls being raped on their way to school though we do not know them. One girl was raped on Wenje road one month ago. There are men who hide in the bushes and call girls. One man approached me one day but I ran away- this happened on Bula road. I went home and told my mother and she told me never to follow that road again”. (A twelve year-old girl)

For girls out of school, their husbands were sometimes perpetrators of violence:

“One of us, who is eighteen years with three children, had to divorce the husband because of being battered everyday. They divorced two months ago in March 2009. Some husbands do not respect their wives and they insult us because they see us like children. (FGD with girls out of school).

63

Teachers were occasionally mentioned as perpetrators by girls out of school. These practices may be more common than our statistical data suggests, since girls still at school may be fearful or reluctant to report these practices. One group of girls explained how sex between teachers and girls happens:

“Teachers send girls to go and perform personal errands for them in their houses and homes. They then make sexual advances which sometimes end up in sexual affairs. Some girls often get pregnant from such acts, and parents decide to withdraw them from school.” (FGD with school girls age 14-17).

Girls also spoke of how they exchanged sex for money, goods or favours:

“In villages boys call girls to the bushes to have sex with them. Sometimes, young girls are lured using sweets and even one or fi ve shillings and sleep with them. (11-13 year-old schoolgirls, FGD).

“The men cheat you with 20 shillings and use you, when you are pregnant, they leave you. Sometimes we contribute to this problem as girls. Even if a girl is asked who is the father of the child we can’t tell because of multiple sexual partners.” (Girls out of school FGD).

Girls in the Wardei community spoke of female circumcision, explaining that it is widely practiced in their community. The health offi cial interviewed confi rmed this, explaining that an

estimated 80% of Wardei girls are circumcised at about fi ve years old. Some girls described the practice as follows:

“So many women come home and take the girls to some house and do the circumcision. The women then sing, dance, eat and talk to the girls. Those who are cut bleed a lot because you are given some liquid herbs to put on the wound and it is painful. We don’t think the female circumcision is good because it is painful and we won’t advise anyone to do it” (11-13 year old girls in the FGD).

Girls who do not undergo FGM explained that they face hostility:

“We are regularly abused or insulted by boys who are our schoolmates or classmates. Boys usually refer to the girls who do not undergo female circumcision as ‘shoga’ (lesbians)” (8-10 year old girls FGD).

The older girls, some of whom are already married, explain the longer term problems that arise:

“The fi rst sexual encounter with the husband is usually very painful. This lasts for a long time. At child birth, one has to be cut for the child to come out. Monthly periods are also a problem since those who are cut experience a lot of pain. When a girl has been cut, her legs are tied apart to help heal the wound.” (Girls out of school in a FGD).


4.5 Patterns of Psychologial Violence

Pupils were asked about whether they had seen or experienced different forms of violence. These are:• Insults, name calling, or shouting

• Verbal threats or intimidation Receiving of threatening or unwanted letters

• Other forms of psychological violence

Verbal aggression and threatening children with physical punishment and insults are commonly described in the data. The data in fi gure 9 shows that more girls face psychological violence than boys in Wenje division. Insults and threats are the most common forms experienced. Table 30 in the Appendix shows a further breakdown by age. It shows that levels of all forms of psychological violence increase with age for both boys and girls.

Figure 9 Proportion of pupils experiencing psychological violence

39.58%

23.61%

6.25%

45.54%

25.60%

15.18%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

Insult Threat Letters

Perc

enta

ge

Types of Violence

Proportion of Girls and Boys experiencingPsychological Violence by type

Boys

Girls

Frequency of psychological violence

For those pupils who reported that they had been insulted, threatened or sent unwanted letters, about half say it happens rarely whilst the other half reports more frequent occurrences (see table 30 below). Although boys are less likely than girls to report being insulted, threatened or sent unwanted letters, those that do seem to experience it more frequently than girls.

65

Table 30: Frequency of psychological violence

Type of violence

Gender Rarely (less than once a year) Often (every 3-4 months)



Not Answered

N % N % N % N % N %Insult Male 28 48.3 7 12.1 4 6.9 6 27.6 3 5.2

Female 86 56.6 42 27.6 17 11.2 16 3.9 1 0.7Threats Male 19 52.8 10 27.8 4 11.1 3 8.3 0 0

Female 46 54.8 31 36.9 5 6.0 2 2.4 0 0Letters Male 5 55.6 3 33.3 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 11.1

Female 27 52.9 22 43.1 1 2.0 1 2.0 0 0.0Other Male 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 1 100.0 0 0.0% 0 0.0%

Female 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 1 100.0 0 0.0% 0 0.0%

Location of psychological violencePsychological violence against girls and boys occurs most often in the home or village, though around one third of girls experience insults, threats and letters in school. Threats

on the other hand occur mostly at home and on the way to/ from school. In such incidents, the male pupils are the perpetrators. Letters are common in schools among girls and boys (see details in table 31 and in the appendix).

Table 31: Percentage of pupils citing locations of each type of violence*

Schooltotal

Schoolcompound



In andaroundtoilets


Teachers’houses

Insult Male 72.4 6.9 20.7 12.1 6.9 1.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 58Female 55.0 4.0 41.1 23.8 17.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 151

Threats Male 63.9 16.7 16.7 5.6 11.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.8 0.0 36Female 59.5 8.3 32.1 19.0 10.7 2.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 84

Letters Male 66.7 11.1 22.2 11.1 11.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 9Female 54.9 7.8 37.2 19.6 17.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 51

In school % TotalN

Type ofviolence


To/fromschool%

Other%

Notanswered %


*For girls and boys who have experienced each type of violence, location of most recent incident (percentage)

Perpetrators of psychological violenceThe majority of these forms of violence are between children. More girls than boys are insulted by their fellow female pupils, followed by female family members (Table

32 below). Threats are equally experienced more by boys from their male colleagues, female colleagues and male community members. Such forms of violence are, however, quite rare among girlfriends or boyfriends. Female teachers are the common perpetrators of psychological violence, and the prominence of female family members in insulting, name calling and shouting reported is conspicuous.

Table 32: Perpetrators of psychological violence*

Perpetrator

Insult Threats Letters

M F M F M F

Fellow pupil (female) 24.1 40.1 22.2 34.5 55.6 52.9

Fellow pupil (male) 10.3 10.5 33.3 23.8 11.1 15.7

Teacher (f) 3.4 9.2 2.8 14.3 22.2 15.7

Teacher (m) 3.4 4.6 5.6 3.6 0.0 0.0

Family member (f) 24.1 22.4 0.0 6.0 0.0 0.0

Family member (m) 19.0 2.0 11.1 3.6 0.0 0.0

Girlfriend 0.0 1.3 0.0 1.2 0.0 0.0

Boyfriend 0.0 2.6 0.0 1.2 0.0 7.8

Community member (f) 6.9 3.3 2.8 0.0 0.0 2.0

Community member (m) 8.6 3.3 19.4 11.9 11.1 5.9

Other 0.0 0.0 2.8 0.0 0.0 0.0

Not answered 0.0 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

N total 58 152 36 84 9 51

*For girls and boys who have experienced each type of violence, perpetrator of most recent incident (percentage) Perceptions on violence

67

4.6 Perceptions on ViolenceThe fi ndings of this survey indicate that most pupils do not perceive corporal punishment as a form of violence. As indicated in the previous section, the majority of pupils see beating or whipping of either girls or boys as okay, and as part of instilling discipline to a misbehaving learner. The following pupils’ ‘voices’ summarize this unfortunate notion:

“I have been caned in school because of failing to score well in a subject …we are caned always …..but caning is good since it drives away ignorance. It also instils discipline in us”. (A fi fteen year-old boy).

“In most cases those who lack respect are whipped by teachers, this applies to both girls and boys ….while others are whipped, some are expelled but me I prefer being whipped than to be expelled from school”. (A ten year-old boy).

“When a boy beat me up, I reported to my mother who called his mother. We were both called to explain what happened and then the boy was beaten by his mother after he was found guilty. This was justifi ed and if he does it again, I will tell the teacher”. (A thirteen year-old girl).

“At school there is no type of violence. What happens is that teachers and parents try to discipline and correct those who have failed or those who do

bad things. This is done by caning both in the village and school and we don’t have a problem with that. The only thing that happens is that boys abuse girls, but the girls never abuse them. Some boys say, we will rape you girls, and some people fi ght on their way home from school.”(FGD with 11-13 year-old girls).

These fi ndings show that there are many primary school pupils in Wenje who do not understand what entails violence or violation of their rights. This is despite the fact that there is the Children’s Act of 2001 and other legal /policy documents that prohibit corporal punishment in Kenyan schools. There were, however, exceptions, with a small number of girls and boys disagreeing with physical punishment:

“We should not be beaten if we make mistakes. The punishments are also not good. We should just be warned and talked to”. (A nine year-old girl).

The pupils also sometimes judged such punishments as unwarranted or too harsh:

“All pupils are beaten by the teachers when they make mistakes. One day I was beaten by a teacher till my hands bled and I had not done anything wrong. He said I had made a mistake.” (A sixteen year-old girl).

“I get beaten by my mother till I wish I could die. This oppression is also because I am disabled” (A nine year-old girl).


The teachers’ survey (see tables 23, 24, and 25 in the previous section) on the contrary, reveals that 63% of the teachers do not approve corporal punishment, like whipping boys to maintain discipline in school or class. Likewise 67% of them do not approve whipping girls to maintain discipline in school or class. When asked whether it is okay to give pupils hard physical punishment at school, such as digging pit latrines, 83% of the teachers disagree, believing that it is not okay to give boys such punishment, while 82% believe that it is not okay to ask girls to do hard physical punishment at school.

Teachers were also asked about incidents of violence taking place in schools in the past year. If we compare the table below with the levels of violence that children said they had experienced (see Figures 9 to 11 in Chapter 4) we can see that teachers seem to be under-reporting the problem. This may be because either they are unaware of some instances of violence, or they do not consider the cases as important enough to report, or they do not want to admit to the range and number of violent incidents happening in their schools, or a combination of all of these factors (see tables 33 to 35 bellow).

Table 33: Percentages of teachers and head teachers reporting physical violence against children in school in last 12 months by type of violence

Type of violence YES (reported)

NO (did not report)

N Percentage N Percentage

Beating 34 36.17 38 40.43

Grabbing 10 10.64 41 43.62

Weapon 6 6.38 44 46.81

Whip 17 18.09 36 38.30

Table 34: Percentages of teachers/head teachers reporting sexual violence against children in school in last 12 months by type of violence

Type of violence Frequency (N) PercentForced sex 6 6.38Sex for goods 4 4.26Peeping 6 6.38Touching 11 11.70Comment 10 10.64

69

Table 35: Percentages of teachers/head teachers reporting psychological violence against children in school in last 12 months by type of violence

Type of violence Frequency Percent

Insult 26 27.66

Threat 13 13.83

Letter 11 11.70

The teachers agree that girls are more vulnerable than boys to receiving insults and unwanted letters, but they perceie boys to be more likely to be at the receiving end of threatening behaviour (Table 36).

Table 36: Percentage of last incidents of psychological violence reported by teacher by type and by victim

Type of violence Gender of victim Frequency PercentInsult Girl 16 17.02

Boy 12 12.77

both boy and girl 16 17.02Threat Girl 6 6.38

Boy 15 15.96

both boy and girl 9 9.57Letter Girl 6 6.38

Boy 4 4.26

both boy and girl 6 6.38

It is worth noting that some head teachers and school management committee members deny the existence of the forms of violence:

“Those cases of violence you are talking about have never happened here in school, or if they have been, then they have never been reported. But girls are normally threatened culturally or they get affected by lack of discipline” (A head teacher).

“Because these children are young, the violence does not exist. Only older children have those problems since they are developmental problems, and the need to satisfy sexual urge by children. Boys and girls, when they reach a certain age, undergo body changes and feel like they can just involve in sexual matters and this is violence. Fighting and insults are however normal among children” (School Committee Members).

Such responses make the issue of ‘violence against girls’ to be a ‘fl uid’ but topical issue in Wenje and, therefore, needs focus and attention. This is because of the challenges, discussed in Chapter 3 above that negatively affect girls’ active participation in education.


4.7 Girls’ Attitudes on Gender Based Violence

The majority of the girls share a general opinion that no one has any right to demand for sex from school children. As shown in the table 37 below, six out of every ten girls responded that teachers, boys or other men have no right to demand for sex from them. There is, however, a signifi cant proportion (37%), do not question men’s rights over girls’ bodies. Likewise, seven out of ten girls believe that blame should not be placed on them in cases of sexual harassment, but this means that three in ten think that girls may be to blame. Only one-third of girls question the use of corporal punishment in schools.

Table 37: Girls attitude to gender and violence

Girls response on issues of violence N PercentageGirls reporting that no one has the right to demand for sex from school children

197 63.2%

Proportion of girls who believe that girls should not be blamed for sexual harassment

217 68.9%

Proportion of girls questioning corporal punishment

107 34%

Proportion of girls who experienced any form of violence and reported to someone else

185 59%

The girls also state that Child labour, FGM and early marriage are the forms of gender based violence that affect girls’ participation in education (refer to section 3.4). The girls cite their parents (especially their mothers) as the main perpetrators of this as indicated by the ‘voices’ below:

“Parents here are the perpetrators of child labour since the girls are the ones given more of the housework while they (mothers) give no support for basic needs” (FGD with girls aged 8-10 years)

“It is the girls who are forced into marriage. Sometimes it is the parents who start suggesting that we get married so they can get assistance from the husband” (FGD with girls out of school).

“The girls get circumcised at the age of three to six years but mostly at the age of thirteen years while some are circumcised at tender age after birth. We fi nd it very painful but we have no option. Some of us are already circumcised but we don’t know when it was done. We are just informed that we become good girls when we get circumcised and we see nothing wrong”. (FGD with girls aged 8-10 years).

SummarySchool girls and boys experience multiple forms of violence within the school, on the way to and from school, andin their homes. The most common forms of physical violence

71

experienced by pupils are whipping and beating in all schools. More boys than girls report beating and whipping, while girls are more vulnerable to grabbing and kneeling. A lot of physical violence takes place in fi ghts among school children, but more so due to corporal punishment in schools and homes. This is often accepted by girls and boys, although some do question its indiscriminate use. Girls are the majority victims in all the forms of sexual violence than

boys, and many girls talk about the links between sexual violence and their education, including early pregnancy, early marriage and FGM which affect school attendance. More girls face higher level of psychological violence than boys in Wenje division. Girls’ opinions on violence suggest a mixed picture, with a stronger sense of sexual violence as a violation of rights than corporal punishment.


5.1 IntroductionThis chapter presents the processes of taking action in cases of any occurrence of violence. It presents how girls and boys take action against violence, the actions taken by authorities in schools and communities, and the general awareness on actions to make safe environments for girls in schools and in the community.

5.2 Challenging ViolenceChallenging Physical violenceThere are several attempts by girls to contest the different forms of violence upon them. Table 38 illustrates the proportion of girls who have then taken different actions against the perpetrators of physical violence against them. A large percentage of girls do

5: CHALLENGING VIOLENCE

Table 38: Actions taken by girls in each case of physical violence

Action Taken by Girls Beating Grabbing Weapon Whipping Kneeling

Did nothing (147) 54.6% 70.7% (87) 57% (57) 69% (190) 92% (92)

Fought back/Told them to stop/Threatened to report (35) 13% 9.8% (12) 41% (41) 28.7% (79) 48% (48)

Told adult family member (female) (27) 10% 6.5% (8) 4% (4) 2.2% (6) 5% (5)

Told adult family member (male) (14) 5% 1.6% (2) 11% (11) 1.1% (3) 0% (0)

Told friend/fellow pupil (2) 0.4% 0.8% (1) 2% (2) 0.7% (2) 3% (3)

Told teacher, head, SMC member (female) (29) 11.5% 4.9% (6) 4% (4) 2.9% (8) 3% (3)

Told teacher, head, SMC member (male) (23) 8.9% 3.3% (4) 6% (6) 3.2% (9) 2% (2)

not take action, largely because some forms physical violence like corporal punishment are seen as normal and necessary correctional measures taken by the teachers and parents. Larger proportions of girls took action against beatings or assault with weapons, possibly because these are more likely to be “unauthorized” use of violence, for example, fi ghting rather than corporal punishment.

73

Indeed, most girls do nothing in cases of physical violence. The few that take action report the incidents to mothers or teachers. Girls aged 11-13 state that they in case violence is meted against them, they would report to their teachers while in school, while the older girls aged 14-17 years say that they would defend themselves.

The girls interviewed had experienced beatings administered as punishment, usually by parents, or by boys, and of incidents of sexual violence, but were unlikely to report punishment as violence even if they felt it was unfair or unwarranted. The girls, however, sometimes reported physical attacks by boys and said that they would tell an adult if it happened again:

A thirteen year old girl: “If they ever do it again I will tell the teachers or tell my mother.”

A 14 year old girl: “I will report to my mother if I am at home and tell my teacher if am in school.”

A10 year old girl: “If it happens again I will tell my mother and teacher”.

Challenging sexual violenceGirls are more likely to report or take action following sexual violence compared than in cases of physical violence as shown in table 39. Nevertheless, less than one in three girls reported any form of sexual violence to an adult family member, or to a teacher. Among the girls who reported they had experienced peeping, one in fi ve had taken action by fi ghting back, telling them to stop or threatening to report. Another 4.2% told an adult family member, but none had told a friend or fellow pupil. Of the girls who were touched, 22.2% fought back, 16%, reported to a female teacher but 17.3% did nothing.

Of those who received negative comments, 33.3%, fought back, told the perpetrators to stop or threatened to report. Of the girls who reported they had been raped, 25% fought back, told them to stop or threatened to report, 12.4% told an adult family member, 12.5% had told a friend, and 6.2% girls told a female teacher. Three girls or 9.4% did nothing. Overall the data suggests that girls are more likely to take action against the most serious forms of sexual violence –forced sex and sex for goods – although this often involves fi ghting back rather than reporting and taking formal action against the incident. When girls report they seem to take the matter to a wide range of people in the school and family.


Table 39: Responses of girls who have experienced sexual violence

Action Peep Touch Comments Forced Sex Sex for goodsDid nothing 31.9% (23) 17.3% (14) 21.2% (14) 9.4% (3) 21.9% (7)Fought back/ Told them to stop/ Threatened to report

20.8% (15) 22.2% (18) 33.3% (22) 25.0% (8) 43.8% (14)

Told adult family member (female) 4.2% (3) 13.6% (11) 15.2% (10) 6.2% (2) 15.6% (5)Told adult family member (male) 5.6% (4) 9.9% (8) 0% (0) 6.2% (2) 12.5% (4)Told friend/fellow pupil 0% (0) 4.9% (4) 4.5% (3) 12.5% (4) 6.2% (2)Told teacher, head, SMC member (female) 16.7% (12) 16.0% (13) 1.5% (1) 6.2% (2) 0% (0)Told teacher, head, SMC member (male) 23.6% (17) 9.9% (8) 10.6% (7) 0% (0) 3.1% (1)

did bad things to me…. I went home and told my mum who reported the boy to the police. I also told my teacher who met with my parents and went to the police. The boy was beaten and jailed for two months. Sometimes I remember and feel bad about the incident.”

Another sixteen year old girl, told of how a boy had repeatedly sexually harassed her, despite reporting to her parents. In this case, the threat of police action was effective in stopping the boy: “I reported to my parents and he was warned. I felt happy when my parents assured me that they would take him to jail if he carries on with his habit of pestering me”. While most girls said that if it happened again they would report to parents or teachers, she said: “I do not plan to report again I think I can defend myself by using a stick or even report him to the police myself.”

In the qualitative interviews, girls talked often about incidents of sexual violence by boys, and in most cases they reported these incidents to parents, teachers or occasionally extended family members like aunts or grandparents. Often this led to punishment, as in the case of one fourteen year old girl:

“One day on my way to school a boy approached me from behind and touched my breasts. He insisted on touching me but I ran away and screamed… I went and reported to my mother, who told me to go and tell my teacher, who called the boy and asked why he did it. He had no reason and he was beaten or caned.”

Only one girl talked of police involvement. This ten year old girl said she experienced forced sex on her way to school: “I was attacked by a boy who pulled me in the bush and

75

It emerged from the focus group discussions that not much action is taken on reported cases of sexual violence, especially by the civic administration and the police.

“No forms of action are taken by the police as well as health service centres. Parents consider it a waste of time reporting these cases to the police because they take them to be light cases. For example, there was an incident in which a teacher made his pupil pregnant and when the police was informed, they said that the girl is of marriageable age and, therefore, the teacher should be asked to marry her” (FGD with girls out of school).

Challenging psychological violenceThe fi ndings indicate that girls are more likely to take action against forms of psychological violence than for physical violence (See Table 40). Nonetheless, girls actually reporting incidents were in the minority, with insults receiving the least action. Letters written to girls, however, get the highest reactions by girls who fi ght back - “telling those who write letters to stop or threaten to report”. Threats are reported to female family members in cases where girls decide not to fi ght back.

Table 40: Response of girls who have experienced psychological violence

Actions Insult Threat Letters

Did nothing 55% (22) 28.9% (12) 9.8% (4)

Fought back/ Told them to stop/ Threatened to report 28% (11) 27.4% (11) 47.1% (22)

Told adult family member (female) 9.9% (4) 14.3% (6) 17.6% (8)

Told adult family member (male) 7.9% (3) 7.1% (3) 11.8% (5)

Told friend/fellow pupil 1.3% (1) 7.1% (3) 3.9% (2)

Told teacher, head, SMC member (female) 3.3% (2) 7.1% (3) 2.0% (1)

Told teacher, head, SMC member (male) 6.6% (3) 4.8% (2) 2.0% (1)


Qualitative interviews with boys suggest that some girls talk to the school prefect and in some instances ActionAid staff joins them in the girls’ clubs as shown in the following narratives:

A fi fteen year old boy says that, “Girls sometimes discuss their problems with ActionAid personnel as well as teachers but boys have no avenues at school and therefore talk to their parents if, for instance, a certain teacher hates him.”

A thirteen year old boy also say that, “Girls get opportunities to talk to the female teachers in the girls’ club. The boys seem to be neglected since they have no such clubs and because of fear of going to male teachers by themselves.”

5.3 Outcomes of Actions Taken by Girls in Response to Violence

The respondents, who had reported cases of violence, were asked to indicate if they are aware of the outcomes of such reports and what those outcomes were (they could identify multiple actions for each case). Tables 41 and 42 indicate the summary of the results of their actions, whilst the full ranges of outcomes can be seen in tables 31-33 in the appendices.

Table 41: Result of action taken against physical violence

Result of action Beating Grabbing Weapon Whipping Kneeling

I Don’t know/don’t remember 3.0% 6.5% 3.0% 5.5% 5.0%

Nothing 58.7% 43.8% 60.0% 70.9% 29.8%

It was reported to family member 9.7% 8.9% 42.0% 24.7% 47.0%

The pupil was punished by the school. 16.4% 10.6% 9.0% 0.7% 1.0%

77

A majority of the girls said that nothing happened to the perpetrators. It is, however, evident that among the pupils who reported the incidents to the teachers in school, some perpetrators were punished, especially for beating, grabbing or sexual violence. A few cases of physical punishment were reported to the police and the District Education Offi ce. Even when weapons were used, only 4% were reported to the police. Findings indicate that although incidents of physical, sexual and psychological violence were reported to family members, this often did not translate into formal action being taken. Of major concern is the fact that 15.6% of girls who said that they had been raped were punished by their families (see table 32 in the appendix). The evidence shows need for concern in that, even for serious cases of violation such as rape, very few girls (less than 3%) received any counselling or support, including a visit to the clinic.

Table 42: Result of actions taken against sexual violence

Results Peep Touch Comments Forced Sex Sex for goods

I don’t know/don’t remember 8.3 2.5 3.0 3.1 6.2

Nothing happened 19.4 19.8 31.8 9.4 15.6

Reported to family member 19.4 29.6 33.3 25 25

The person was punished by the school. 16.7 13.6 4.5 6.2 0.0

The teacher transferred/left school. 23.6 8.6 6.1 0.0 3.1

5.4 Pupils’ Views on the Most Serious Incidents of Violence

Pupils were asked which of the types of violence that they had reported experiencing was the most serious. Girls were most likely to name sexual comments and whipping as the most serious incidents, whilst boys named sexual comments and beating. Both girls and boys consider threats or unwanted letters as the least serious followed by forced or unwanted sex and peeping respectively as shown in Table 43, (note that pupils answered this question in relation to which case that they had experienced was the most serious, so less common cases, such as forced sex, were reported less often).


Table 43: Incident of violence rated by all pupils as most serious, by type of violence

Male Female N % N %

Beating 20 13.8% 40 12.0%Grabbing 6 4.1% 14 4.2%Use of weapon 17 11.7% 13 3.9%Whipping or caning 15 10.3% 76 22.8%Being made to kneel/ squat

4 2.8% 10 3.0%

Other physical violence 0 .0% 1 .3%Peeping 1 .7% 5 1.5%Touching 14 9.7% 12 3.6%Sexual comments 27 18.6% 88 26.3%Forced or unwanted sex 2 1.4% 3 .9%Sex in exchange for goods 9 6.2% 6 1.8%Other sexual violence 0 .0% 1 .3%Insulting and name calling 6 4.1% 10 3.0%Threatening 1 .7% 10 3.0%Threatening or unwanted letters

0 .0% 4 1.2%

Other emotional violence 1 .7% 0 .0%Not answered 22 15.2% 41 12.3%Total 145 100.0% 334 100.0%

5.5 Pupils’ Satisfaction on Handling of Serious Incidents of Violence

Girls and boys were then asked to rate how well they thought the incidents of violence had been handled by parents, teachers, police and other people in authority. More girls than boys thought the incidents were handled very well, but also a higher proportion of girls than boys believed the cases were handled very badly by those who were involved (table 44). In general, a greater proportion of girls than boys were dissatisfi ed with the way the incidents were handled.

In overall, a slight majority of the pupils were dissatisfi ed with the handling of the incidents. This is not surprising considering the lack of follow up action, of care and support received by girls. It means that the duty bearers in handling the cases of violence need to put more effort or improve their capacity to handle all the cases of violence satisfactorily.

Looking at girls’ narratives on violence experienced shows that the girls were unhappy with the handling of a few incidents such as punishment, for which they had no recourse. They were also unhappy with the handling of some incidents involving physical attack, where they were punished on reporting the cases to parents or teachers. Table 44: Pupil rating of handling of most serious incident ofviolence by gender

79

How well was it handled?Boys Girls Total

N % N % N %

Very badly 19 13.0% 76 22.8% 95 19.8%

Not very well 39 26.7% 67 20.1% 106 22.1%

Quite well 45 30.8% 56 16.8% 101 21.0%

Very well 15 10.3% 55 16.5% 70 14.6%

Don’t know 2 1.4% 5 1.5% 7 1.5%

Not answered 26 17.8% 72 21.6% 98 20.4%

Only incidents of sexual violence were ever taken beyond the family level and they had different perspectives about the outcomes, as the following narrative shows.

A fourteen year old girl says:

“Sometimes when boys touch or beat girls, the girls report to their parents who then go to the parents of the boy but most of the times the boy’s parents defend him. When girls get pregnant they get married to the boy or stay at home, or the case is taken up by the police who only give a minor punishment. When girls are raped they tell their parents who report to the headman then to the chief. The police then take up the case and most of the time the men are freed. Very few are ever jailed.”

5.6 Actions Taken by School Authorities

None of the pupils in qualitative interviews mentioned written rules handling of incidents of violence. Many girls, however, said that they have been told by teachers to report to them when a boy harasses a girl:

“Our teachers have told us that if boys approach us for relationships, we should refuse and if they insist we should report to the teacher. In the girls forum we are told to refuse if boys approach us or want to meet us after school”. (A thirteen year old girl).

Very few pupils are aware of rules about teacher behaviour, with only two girls aware of the ban on corporal punishment: “Teachers are not supposed to use corporal punishment on pupils” (A fourteen year old girl).


However, 117 School for the Deaf seems to be an exception, with several pupils there clearly having been given guidance on teachers’ conduct. One thirteen year old girl explains the following rules:

“Pupils should stay away from teachers houses unless when sent by authorities. Teachers should not call pupils to lonely places. Teachers should not to meet pupils at odd hours such as night time or in dark corners”.

Assembly, girl guides lessons, and HIV/AIDS classes seem to be key spaces for these discussions at 117 School. In the other three schools where qualitative interviews with pupils were conducted, the only mention of discussions during a lesson was a science lesson on adolescence, where one boy mentioned that they were told to refrain from sexual behaviour.

A seventeen year old boy, who has been sexually abused by “an old man during Maudlin prayers” explains other avenues for discussions on violence: “the teachers always tell us what to do during the Kenya sign language research programme HIV/AIDS, and that we should report such incidences to our superiors. The school rules guide us on how to relate with our teachers and what to do”.

Asked about actions by school management to protect girls, the head teachers spoke of school discipline systems and provision of counselling and advice. SMC members also

felt that they had a role in stopping violence against pupils, mainly through talking with parents:

“We try and talk to the parents to fi nd ways of solving the problems because most of these problems occur at home. We encourage them to check on their children’s movement and behaviour at home”. (A school head teacher).

A few SMC members also spoke of mediating between teachers and pupils, and of reporting to village chiefs.

“We take action against anyone violating the girls for instance we reported some cases to the chief and later to the, probation offi cer”. (SMC member).

The DEO speaks of liaising with the children’s department to handle cases of violence against girls but this is not effective due to family interference. Other data in this report suggests that a few cases reach the DEO :

“We liaise with the children’s department when we get reports of violence but most of the cases are being interfered with by the local community leaders and families who withdraw from the cases”. (DEO)

The school management committees also discuss with teachers and parents on how to deal with violence incidents.

81

A large number of teachers in schools have received some training on HIV/AIDS and violence, often through NGOs like ActionAid. SMC members have also received training on these issues by ActionAid, though mainly for individual members rather than for the SMC as a group. None of the members has received training on gender/girls’ education. ActionAid has provided some assistance to deal with violence against girls, but very few head teachers mentioned assistance by others, including the police. The head teachers usually see their role as giving guidance to girls on how to deal with the problems through abstinence:

“During assemblies, we advise the children, especially the girls, on the disadvantages of pre-marital sex. The girls are also counselled during girls forums and even through religious leaders.” (Male head teacher).

The teachers suggest that in order to challenge violence or abuse, pupils need to learn how to be on assertive, interact with other pupils, avoid danger, drug abuse and take care of themselves. One male head teacher says that the pupils:

“Need education on the working of their bodies to prevent pregnancy cases, and to make them understand their rights”. (Head teacher)

Several head teachers said that life skills are incorporated into a range of lessons though not taught as a separate subject.

Some felt that they lack the resources to give this subject enough attention.

There was some awareness among head teachers of laws and policies, with several teachers mentioning the ender Policy in Education. While most head teachers reported that they have school rules for all pupils, only one had a written policy.

5.7 Actions in the Community and at District Level

In focus group discussions, parents explained that most cases of violence were dealt with at the level of the family or community. Sometimes parents of perpetrators and victims meet to discuss the issue, and in some cases village elders adjudicate, though there were different views on how effective this has been, with one group of mothers saying:

“Reporting issues of forced sex to the elders does not solve the problems because they only ask the parties to forgive each other; the chief is also not keen to end early marriages.”(FGD with mothers)

In most cases, no action was taken by police or health services, though one group of mothers said that health offi cials provided condoms, a practice which the mothers viewed as unhelpful since they saw it as encouraging teenage sex. In one FGD the following views were expressed:


“It is a waste of time reporting these cases to the police since in there was an incident where a girl was impregnated by a teacher and when the police was informed he said that the girl is of marriageable age so she can ask the teacher to marry her.”

NGO’s on the other hand were seen by parents as offering support, in terms of providing resources and sometimes giving advice. For example, one group of mothers told how ActionAid helps girls with problems of pregnancy and encourages them to return to school after giving birth. A group of fathers felt that NGO’s should provide boarding facilities, toilets and access to water, especially in the Wardei community. They also spoke of the need to increase the numbers of female teachers.

Most community leaders and women’s group leaders have received no training or support in dealing with cases of violence against girls. However, a minority of leaders have attended useful seminars or received advice from ActionAid on how to deal with violence:

“Members were trained, attended by the headman and one woman who found out that the training was very useful on how to deal with different cases. They arranged for sessions in the community to create awareness about the same fi ve times.” (Community leader)

Most leaders did not know of laws or policies on violence,

though a few community leaders mentioned the Children’s Act or customary laws on physical and sexual abuse, and early marriage.

According to community and women’s group leaders, cases such as a man breaking into a girl’s home or an FGM perpetrator were sometimes taken to the police and arrested, but often no further action was taken or court proceedings were not followed through:

“Sometimes the cases reach the police but since they are bribed, the cases end nowhere, and chiefs get disappointed” (Women’s group leader).

Asked what else should be done to protect girls, leaders mentioned the need for more engagement with police:

“Criminals should be taken to the police. The community is like a family therefore they may decide to solve their cases on their own (Women’s group leader).

Health offi cials, clinics and hospitals were rarely mentioned as sources of support. The DHO reported that clinics are often far from communities. He suggested that health offi cials have a role in counselling, and in treating and preventing violence.

Views varied about the skills young people need to challenge abuse. One community leader, for example, stressed on

83

the importance of involving boys while another felt that interventions should target girls:

“Boys should not be left out in awareness programmes.” (Community group leader)

The community members felt that children need to learn skills to avoid dangerous situations, to avoid drugs like ‘miraa’, and good ‘moral’ behaviour. Women’s group leaders also mentioned the need to teach girls how to avoid pregnancy. Leaders also stressed the need for girls to know reporting mechanisms:

“They need to know and identify the leaders to whom they can report cases of violence that they are likely to meet.” (Women’s group leader)

They also stressed on the need for communities to work together to combat violence:

“There’s need to educate the community on the rights of women, they are human beings like others” (Community group leader).

5.8 Girls’ and Boys’ Interactions within the School and Community Environments

In the qualitative interviews most girls said that they talk to friends about their problems. They also mentioned talking to their mothers, and sometimes to grandmothers or other family members. Some girls at 117 School for the Deaf, however, experience problems in communication with family members. An eight year old girl, for example, said that she has problems communicatings with her mother who does not know sign language. The same girl said that in school she was reluctant to share problems with prefects and teachers:

“Prefects are like teachers - when you tell them about you they beat you”. (An eight year old girl)

While parents and teachers are key sources of support for girls, the girls are sometimes afraid that they will be punished.

Some boys talk to friends and parents about their problems, but a signifi cant number of boys say that they did not talk to others about their problems. They also did not speak to teachers, and feel that opportunities are fewer for them because they do not have access to clubs. None of the girls or boys as mentioned earlier reported having opportunities to participate in decision making at school.


5.9 Looking forward: Perspectives on the Future for Girls

The girls, parents and teachers made concrete suggestions on how schools and communities could be made safer. In focus group discussions and individual interviews they proposed changes in school conditions and practices and in practices within communities. In school, for example, they spoke of the need to have separate toilets for girls and boys, free sanitary pads, and adequate water so that they did not have to trek long distances to fetch water. They also suggested provision of boarding facilities, and bicycles to make the journey to school safer. Fencing the schools was also proposed as a way to keep children safer.

Some girls suggested that in dealing with perpetrators of violence, teachers should talk to the pupils and take legal recourse, instead of physical punishment. One group also suggested that ActionAid could provide counselling and support to the pupils, parents and teachers and intervene to prevent forced marriage.

“When girls are told by their fathers to get married, ActionAid should come and explain to the teacher so that they talk to her father and allow her to continue with school” (A thirteen year old girl).

Many of the groups felt that girls’ clubs are important, though diffi cult to establish due to lack of female teachers. Girls out of school also spoke of the need for adult education “to help

the ones who never got a chance at school”.

Finally, girls spoke of the need to sensitize communities on the dangers of female circumcision, though some were doubtful about the possibility for changing such deeply rooted traditions:

“We feel that female circumcision may never end completely unless the old people (who are the perpetrators and custodians) die” (out of school girls FGD).

But other girls proposed stringent punishments or provision of alternative forms of livelihood for circumcisers:

“Circumcisers should be advised on alternative jobs as they consider female circumcision a source of livelihood”

Head teachers reported that there has been considerable improvement in the girls’ enrolment in school, with more parents increasingly valuing education for their daughters and thus less early marriages. Head teachers proposed that girls’ achievement would be strengthened through provision of girls’ clubs, scholarships, motivational speakers, and encouragement to study science based subjects. One head teacher also described how successful girls can act as role models:

“A girl from this school who has joined a Provincial

85

or National school can act as role model to the rest of the pupils, and this will boost the girls’ morale to get educated.”

Head teachers also stressed the need for resources such as boarding schools in nomadic communities, desks, toilets, fences, sanitary towels. Finally they spoke of the continuing need to sensitise parents on the importance of education for their daughters.

Summary

A large proportion of girls do not take action against different forms of violence, especially physical violence. Girls are more likely to report or take action following sexual violence. Still, few girls report any form of sexual violence to an adult family member, or to a teacher, and only very occasionally are cases referred to the police or district offi ces. It is also evident that among the pupils who report incidents of violence to the teachers in school, the perpetrators were punished, while little is done at home. There is also a poor understanding of the laws and policies relating to gender and violence. Girls also have few opportunities to be involved in decision making processes in their schools. Girls’ clubs are an important opportunities for sharing concerns and seeking support, and boys seek similar opportunities.


The survey covered seventeen schools one of which was a special school. The key informants included head teachers, teachers, pupils, parents, school management committees, community leaders, the district education offi cer and the district health offi cer. The instruments used to collect the data included interviews and focus group discussions. The survey was conducted between April and June, 2009.

In summary, the following are the key fi ndings of the survey according to each research question:

Research Question 1

What are the constraints upon and opportunities for combating gender violence, discrimination and inequalities within legislative and policy frameworks and their implementation, at national, state and local community level?

In Kenya, the last decade has witnessed a considerably strengthened legal and policy framework supporting girls’ education at national level. The introduction of free primary education (FPE) in 2003 increased access to education, while the 2006 Sexual Offences Act addressed violence against women and girls by increasing penalties for rape. The National Commission on Gender and Development (NCGD) was established in 2003, to coordinate, implement and

6: Conclusions and Recommendations

The baseline survey was done in Wenje Division of Tana River District of the Coast Province, Kenya. The purpose of the baseline survey was to map out gendered patterns of enrolment, completion and achievement in project schools in the Division. The survey also identifi ed patterns of violence that girls experience in schools, homes and communities and how these affect their participation in education. The survey aimed at highlighting advocacy priorities on stopping gender violence against girls and enhancing their participation in education. It also provided evidence-based recommendations to inform decision making.

87

facilitate gender mainstreaming in national development. The NCGD is implementing the National Policy on Gender and Development, which was adopted in 2007. Despite these legislative and policy developments, the evidence of this study indicates signifi cant problems of implementation at decentralized levels. In Wenje Division, progress with school enrolment has not been matched by improvements in quality of education, and the legislative and policy plans are not effective in ensuring girls’ safety and achievement within schools. In general, the majority of girls are still denied access to schooling in later primary years and there is no evidence to indicate that the laws on violence are being used effectively to protect or support girls in various communities in the division.

A key constraining factor is the harsh socio-economic conditions, with an estimated 72% of the local population living below the poverty line of two USDs a day. This has limited the impact of free primary schooling on enrolment, retention and attainment since many families use their children’s labour, especially girls, in farms or at home instead of sending them to school. Education of girls is also hampered by inadequate toilet facilities in most schools, and lack of running water and sanitary towels.

The few female teachers in most schools surveyed, means that girls may lack role models or women in school with whom they can confi de. The School Management Committees (SMCs) also lack women members, and receive little training on gender and school management. There is clearly a problem in the recruitment of female teachers in Wenje Division. The absence of pupils from SMCs may also refl ect the national policy frameworks, which do not include specifi cations on involving girls and boys in decision making processes in schools.

Communities in Wenje Division have strong views on gender roles, physical punishment and traditions like female circumcision and marriage of school girls. Often they do not see traditional attitudes and practices, which are largely discriminatory against girls, as being oppressive or against human rights. Such practices have been part of their culture for years. The traditional practices are also regarded as sensitive and ‘secretive’, thus should not be open to debate or reform, especially by outsiders and/or schooling. An encouraging fi nding of this study is that many girls, boys and teachers, hold positive views on equality between boys/men and girls/women and do not support ‘violent’ practices directed towards girls.


Research Question 2

What patterns of violence do girls experience in schools, homes and communities? How are these situated in girls’ everyday interactions and relationships? How are these linked to the political, social and economic context?

Girls experience multiple forms of violence. Those that happen most frequently are physical forms of violence, such as whipping and beating by boys. There are also sexual forms of violence, most often carried out by boys. A quarter of girls reported having experienced sexual harassment such as unwanted touching of breasts, and one in ten reported that they have been raped. Boys and girls experience high levels of physical punishment at school and home, with boys more frequently punished this way in school, and girls more at home. To a large extent such practices are taken for granted by pupils and parents. The majority of teachers disagree with corporal punishment, although it could be in compliance with the law rather than actual practice, since at least eight in ten children reported being whipped or caned in school or home. Teachers also reported lower levels of violence than girls and boys in school, perhaps for the same reasons. Only one school out of seventeen has a written policy or protocol on discipline or violence, and there are no effective alternative forms of behaviour management being used in schools.

In homes, the high rates of physical punishment against girls are linked to roles and responsibilities within families, particularly to the gendered division of labour, and indirectly to poverty, because of the high domestic labour burden. For example, girls are punished for being slow in fetching water.

Sexual violence takes place in schools, homes and communities. Although all seem to recognise these practices as violent, their frequency suggests that some boys and men see touching, grabbing, and sexual insults as acceptable or as a way of demonstrating manliness. There are still occasional incidents of boys or men forcefully taking possession of girls’ bodies to claim ownership. In some of the communities, sexual relationships are strongly tabooed, while in others they are common even if not offi cially sanctioned.

Female circumcision is still widely practised in the Wardei community, a traditional practice the girls criticise for the pain and distress caused during the procedure, and in later years with menstruation and fi rst sexual activity.

Girls out of school also face diffi culties. Some of those who are married cited domestic violence, by husbands and marital family. They also pointed out lack of social support systems.

89

Research Question 3

What are the gendered patterns of enrolment, completion and achievement in the project schools? What variations are there between the schools, and how do these compare with district and national patterns? What are the links with gender relations and violence?

The study found out that girls are losing out on education in the later primary years. While the gender gap tends to be more marked in schools with pastoralist communities, in almost all the schools there are fewer girls than boys in the later years. Many parents are unable to afford in-direct fees, uniform, books and sanitary pads for girls despite the policy of FPE. Girls and boys are needed to support their household with labour. But girls are more disadvantaged than boys because traditionally they are responsible for caring of families and undertaking household chores. Thus, most girls tend to miss school to attend to household chores and look after younger children. Pregnancy and marriage are also key reasons for girls being withdrawn from primary school. Marriage in these circumstances might be seen by parents as a way to protect girls from unwanted sex, as well as providing material support in the form of bride price. Without access to health services and reproductive health education, unwanted pregnancies are common. Socio-economic hardship, therefore, clearly infl uences girls’ and boys’ access to schooling.

Girls are out-performed by boys in national examinations and are unlikely to proceed to secondary education compared to boys. Possible reasons for the lower academic achievement include competing demands on their study time (such as household chores that make them late for school or unable to complete homework), the persistence of stereotypical beliefs that girls are less intelligent and unfriendly school/classroom environment.

Research Question4

What mechanisms are there for girls to contest violence, express their perspectives and infl uence decisions about matters that concern them? How can these be expanded?

Mechanisms for girls to contest violence are weak. Their main sources of support are friends, family members and teachers. Teachers deal with problems through punishing offenders, but whipping and beating sometimes perpetuate violence. Parents of victims deal with some incidents of violence by confronting the parents of offenders, with families working together to address problems. Police are occasionally called in, but neither the criminal justice system nor the health services were seen as effective or helpful by participants in the study.


At present, most of the violence against both girls and boys goes unreported. This may be because some actions may not be recognised as violent and so not reported, or the victims may feel that no action will be taken. There is lack of knowledge of laws and procedures, and inadequate systems of child protection. Even for cases of extreme violence, girls are usually not offered therapeutic support to deal with the emotional, and health consequences of physical or sexual abuse.

Girls have few opportunities to participate in decisions that concern them. For example, they are not given positions of responsibility in school or allowed on the SMC. They do, however, see girls clubs as opportunities to discuss their concerns and fi nd mutual support. Sometimes shortage of women teachers prevents access to clubs. Girls with disabilities face additional problems in communities, where there may be diffi culties communicating with family members or others without specialist training ( such as sign language). There was some evidence of discriminatory attitudes to disability. On the positive side, the special school stood out as an example of good school practice in giving girls’ skills, resources and support for violence.

In many schools themes of relationships, violence, and gender are not covered in the curriculum. Where they are covered, a large proportion of teachers thought they were not effective. These themes were occasionally discussed in science lessons and assembly, usually to provide factual information or to warn boys and girls from getting involved in sexual relationships.

A major challenge for ActionAid and Girl Child Network (GCN) is how to challenge the deeply held practices and traditions such as female circumcision, early marriage, teenage sexuality, without leading to hostility in communities, and therefore resistance to change. For instance, a group of parents felt that health services are unhelpful because they provide condoms. Nevertheless, the positive ways in which some parents and community members spoke about NGO support gives a window of hope for reforming these practices. The communities greatly value the material support, they get from ActionAid, such as improved school facilities like fences, toilets, sanitary towels, and practical support in helping girls and communities deal with cases of violence, which NGOs have given.

91

Recommendations

Legislative and policy proposalsThere is need to:• Examine the views of those who express gender-

equitable viewpoints, exploring how the views and practices have changed over time and how the same can be disseminated within communities and beyond.

• Strengthen lobbying and advocacy for stakeholders to improve school infrastructure such as toilet facilities, water and sanitary provision; Strengthen advocacy on recruitment and posting of female teachers in rural areas; and giving motivational packages for teachers in ASAL areas.

• Strengthen advocacy and focus on localized implementation of policies promoting gender equality through dissemination and trainings.

• Promote child participation in school governance at all levels including training and support of teachers, SMCs, children and parents alongside advocacy at national level.

• Work with local organisations dealing with confl icts to learn more about ethnic tensions and links with violence against girls.

Addressing violence against girlsA sustainable and integrated rights-based approach enabling children, communities and schools to challenge violence is required. This will involve applying methods such as training,

sensitisation and adult education to address FGM, alternative forms of discipline and gender mainstreaming. Specifi cally, there is need to:• Work with girls and boys on how to manage

relationships, sexuality and sexual and reproductive health.

• Promote alternative forms of discipline within a broader gender and rights framework by:• Conducting a mapping exercise of existing and

potential alternative discipline practices. • Working with teachers, teacher unions and teacher

training institutions.• Working with families.

• Challenge the practice of FGM through:• Undertaking research on FGM (including

examination of community dynamics and behavioural change mechanisms).

• Work to promote implementation of laws banning the practice of FGM.

• Share information with other stakeholders for the development of alternative sources of livelihoods for FGM practitioners.

• Enhance awareness raising work in communities, (including building networks among girls, community, police, health services and CBOs) to develop preventive and response mechanisms to FGM cases.


Addressing gender parities in education• Work with schools, parents and communities on strategies to increase girls’ enrolment and increase retention in Standard 6-8.• Conduct further analysis of school level data to

develop school profi les to identify • the most gender–friendly and safe schools, • schools that need to be challenged and supported

to improve their practices, and • school development plans that need improvement.

• Work with schools and DEO’s offi ce to improve school record systems.

• Build on existing training on violence and HIV/AIDS to incorporate gender mainstreaming.

Challenging violence• Promotion of an effective integrated system to address

violence in schools and communities need to be enhanced both at school and community levels. This should include:• A thorough analysis of the different mechanisms

(including traditional justice systems) for addressing violence, and the circumstances in which different forms are more effective for girls.

• Developing a system of communication and referral between different organisations/departments, and community, district and national levels.

• Ongoing support and providing gender sensi vetraining and VAGS training for referral organiza onssuch as the police, schools and child protec on units.

• Supporting schools to implement national guidelines on Gender in Educa on Policy.

• Working with schools and communities to ensure that girls are able to use the reporting mechanisms to protect themselves.

• Ensuring all teachers (especially those running girl clubs) are trained in gender responsive pedagogies and child rights.

• Ensuring all girls clubs are facilitated by female staff.• With support of male teachers and head teachers,

engaging boys in addressing issues of violence and equality, and creating opportunities for supporting boys to deal with violence.

• Further research on special needs in education and disability, and links to violence and their impacts on education.

• Further analysis of good practices on gender and violence in some schools such as the special school, and sharing with other schools.

Identifying gaps in the curriculum on relationships, including how to deal with confl ict, rights and equalities, sex, relationships and health education, and working with schools, teacher training institutions and teacher unions to address them.

93

7: ReferencesAbagi, O., (1997) The Impact of Politicized Educational

Reforms on the Quality of Primary Education: Experience from Kenya in K. Watson, C. Modgil and S. Modgil (eds.) Quality of Education: Educational Dilemmas: Debate and Diversity, London: Cassell.

Abagi, O. and G. Odipo (1997) Effi ciency of Education in Kenya: Situational Analysis and Implications for Educational reforms. Discussion Paper No. 004/97, Nairobi. IPAR.

ActionAid International Kenya, (2006) Tana River District Profi le, Nairobi, UNDP, Sida and ActionAid International Kenya.

ActionAid (2008) TEGINT Project Working Paper: Conceptual framework and insights from the pilot baseline.

Aikman, S. and Unterhalter, E. (eds) (2005) Beyond Access: Transforming Policy and Practice for Gender Equality in Education. Oxfam: Oxford.

African Institute for Health and Development (AIHD) (2009) Local Poverty Monitoring System (LPMS) 2007 – 2008 Tana River District project.

Background paper 2: Discussion Paper, (2009) Developing a Framework for Conceptualising and Operationalising Research on Violence Against Girls: Stop Violence position paper, from Research Workshop, Nairobi September 2008.

Bahun-Radunovic, S. and Rajan, V.G.J. (2008) Violence and Gender in the Globalised World: The intimate and the extimate. Ashgate: Aldershot.

Bhana, D. (2005) Violence and the gendered negotiation of masculinity among young black school boys in South Africa. In L. Ouzgane and R. Morrell (eds) African Masculinities. Pp 205-220 Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.

Butler, Judith (1990) Gender Trouble. London: Routledge.Chege, F (2007) “Education and Empowerment of Girls

against Gender-based Violence”, Journal of International Cooperation in Education, Vol.10, No.1, 2007, pp53-70. Centre for the study of International Cooperation in Education, Hiroshima University.

Chege, F. (2006) ‘He put his hands between girls’ thighs’: Using student teachers’ memories to tackle gender violence. In F. Leach and C. Mitchell (eds) Combating Gender Violence in and around Schools pp 189-198 London: Trentham Books.

Clarke, P.B. (1979) Islam, Education and the Development Process in Nigeria Comparative Education Vol. 14 No. 2. CREAW, 2008.

Community Based Monitoring Systems (CBMS 6) (2009) CBMS Network of the PEP Project September (2009).

6 CBMS Network of the PEP Project. This work was carried out by theAngelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies with financialsupport from the Government of Canada through the International Devel-opment Research Centre (IDRC) and the Canadian International Develop-ment Agency (CIDA).


Djama, Y. (ed) (2004) Sexual Behaviour of Adolescents in Contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa. NY: Edwin Mellor Press.

Dunkle, KL; Jewkes, RK; Brown, HC; Gray, GE; McIntryre JA; Harlow SD. (2004) Gender-based violence, relationship power, and risk of HIV infection in women attending antenatal clinics in South Africa. Lancet 363(9419):1415-21.

Dunne, M., S. Humphreys, et al. (2006) Gender violence in schools in the developing world. Gender and Education 18(1): 75-98.

Dunne, M. (2008) Gender, Sexuality and Development: Education and Society in Sub-Saharan Africa. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

Ellsberg M., Heise L., Peña R., Agurto S., and Winkwist A., (2001) Researching violence against women: methodological and ethical considerations. Studies in Family Planning 32 (1): 1- 16.

GIRL Child Network Zimbabwe, (2004) Gravity of Girl Child Sexual Abuse in Zimbabwe “Towards Creating A Culture of Prevention”

Government of Kenya and Unicef,(1998), Situation Analysis of Children and Women in Kenya 1998, Nairobi: Unicef Country Offi ce.

Human Rights Watch (2001) Scared at School: Sexual Violence Against Girls in South African Schools. Human Rights Watch: New York.

IGWG of USAID. (2006). Addressing Gender-based Violence through USAID’s Health Programs: A Guide for Health

Sector Program Offi cers. Washington, D.C.Jacobs, S. (ed) (2000) States of Confl ict: Gender, Violence and

Resistance. Zed, London.Jewkes, R. Levin, J., Mbananga, N. and Bradshaw, D. (2002)

Rape of girls in South Africa. The Lancet 359, 319-20.Juma, M.N. (1994) Determinants of Female Participation in

Primary Education: A Study of Kwale and Taita-Taveta Districts, Kenya. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Kenyatta University.

KDHS, (2003) Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2003 Central Bureau of Statistics, Nairobi.

Krystall, A. (1978) The Education of Women in Kenya since Independence, Bureau of Educational Research, University of Nairobi.

Koenig, MA; Zablotska, I; Lutalo, T; Nalugoda, F; Wagman, J; Gray, R. (2004) Coerced fi rst intercourse and reproductive health among adolescent women in Rakai, Uganda International Family Planning Perspectives 30(4):156-64.

Leach, F., Fiscian, V., Kadzamira, E., Lemani, E. and Machakanja, P. (2003) An Investigative Study of the Abuse of Girls in African Schools. Department for International Development: London.

Luke, Nancy and Kurz, Kathleen (2002) Cross-generational and Transactional Sexual Relations in Sub-Saharan Africa: Prevalence of Behaviour and Implications for Negotiating Safer Sexual Practices. Washington DC: ICRW.

Machel, G. (1996) Impact of Armed Confl ict on Children. New York: United Nations.

95

Mirsky, J. (2003) Beyond Victims and Villains: Addressing Sexual Violence in the Education Sector. London: Panos

Morrell, R., Epstein, D., Unterhalter, E., Bhana, D. and Moletsane, R. (2009) Towards Gender Equality: South African Schools during the HIV and AIDS Epidemic. University of Kwazulu-Natal Press: Scottsville.

Mullender, A., G. Hague, et al. (2002) Children’s Perspectives on Domestic Violence. London: Sage.

Ministry of Education, Science & Technology, (2003) Free Primary Education: Every Child in School, Nairobi.

Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development, Department of Livestock Production, (2005) Government Printer. Nairobi.

Mosser, C.O. (1989) Gender Planning in the Third World: Meeting, Practical and Strategic Gender Needs, World Development Vol. 17, No. 11 pp. 1799-1825.

Muhoro, G. (1975) Universal Free Primary Education. The Kenyan Experience, Paper Presented at the Association of Teachers in Africa, Nairobi.

Ngigi, Ashington & Daniel Macharia, (2006) Kenya Education sector Policy overview paper, Njau, W. and Wamahiu, S. 1994, Background Paper Prepared for Ministerial Consultation on School Drop-out and Adolescent Pregnancy, Mauritius.

Nkinyangi, J.A. (1980), Socio-Economic Determinants of Repetition and Early School Withdrawal at the Primary School Level and their Implications for Educational Planning in Kenya, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Stanford University.

Parkes, J. (2007) Tensions and troubles in young people’s talk about safety and danger in a violent neighbourhood. Journal of Youth Studies 10, 1, 117-137.

Robertson, C. Women’s Education and Class Formation in Africa, 1900 - 1980 in C. Robertson and I. Berger, (eds.) 1986, Women and Class in Africa. New York: Africana Publishing Company.

Republic of Kenya (1964) Education Commission Report Nairobi: Government Printer.

Republic of Kenya (1964) Sessional Paper No. 10:1965 on African Socialism and its Application to planning in Kenya, Nairobi: Government Printer.



Republic of Kenya (1988) Sessional Paper No. 6 on Education and Training for the Next Decade and Beyond, Nairobi: Government Printer.

Republic of Kenya, (2003) Education Sector Review and Development, Nairobi, MoEST.

Republic of Kenya, (2003) National Action Plan on Education for All, Nairobi, MoEST.

Republic of Kenya, (2003) Kenya Interim- Poverty Strategy Paper 2000-2003, Nairobi, Government printer.

Republic of Kenya (2002) Ministry of Planning and National Development: Tana River District Development Plan 2002-2008, CBs Government printer, Nairobi.


UNESCO (2003) EFA Global Monitoring Report 2003/4: Gender and Education for All: The Leap To Equality. Paris: UNESCO

UNESCO (2009) Global Monitoring Report. Paris: UNESCOUnterhalter (2007) Gender, Schooling and Global Social

Justice. Abingdon: Routledge.USAID (2006) The Safe Schools Program: Quantitative

Research Instrument to Measure School- Related Gender-Based Violence.

UNAIDS, 2006 Violence against women and girls in the era of HIV and AIDS; A situation and Response Analysis in Kenya June 2006

UNICEF (2005) The Impact of Confl ict of Women and Girls in West and Central Africa and the UNICEF Response. United Nations Children’s Fund: New York, USA

UNICEF (2006) Violence Against Children in the Caribbean Region. Regional Assessment: UN Secretary General’s Study on Violence Against Children. UNICEF regional offi ce for Latin America and the Caribbean. Panama.

UNICEF (2008) From invisible to Indivisible: Promoting and Protecting the right of the Girl Child to be free from Violence.

WHO (2003- 5) World Report on Violence and Health. World Health Organisation: Geneva

Republic of Kenya, (2005) Kenya Education Sector Support Programme (KESSP) 2005- 2010: Delivering Quality Education and Training to All Kenyans, Nairobi, Government Printer.

Republic of Kenya, (2005) National Policy on Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Nairobi, Offi ce of the Vice President and Ministry of Home Affairs.

Republic of Kenya (2005) Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2005 on policy framework for education, training and research; MOEST

Republic of Kenya, (2008) Wellbeing in Kenya: A socio-economic profi le 2008, Nairobi, Government Printer.

Republic of Kenya, (2008) Economic Survey, Nairobi, Government Printer.

Republic of Kenya, (2009) Economic Survey, Nairobi, Government Printer.

Royal Netherlands Embassy (1994) Kenya Country Gender Profi le, Nairobi: ACTS Press.

Save the Children Denmark, Government of Ethiopia (2008) A Study on Violence Against Girls in Primary Schools and its Impacts on Girls’ Education in Ethiopia. Addis Ababa.

Teni-Atinga, G. (2006) Ghanaian trainee-teachers’ narratives of sexual harassment: A study of institutional practices. In F. Leach and C. Mitchell (eds) Combating Gender Violence in and around Schools pp 199-206 London: Trentham Books.

United Nations General Assembly (1994) Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women. Geneva: UN

97

8: APPENDICESAPPENDIX i: RESEARCH TEAMS: THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE STUDY

Own and Associates Centre for Research and Development:

Dr. Okwach Abagi – Director,Prof. Daniel Sifuna – Director,

Mr. Samwel Oando – Research Coordinator

Researchers at OWN and Associates: Martin Wasike, Francis Likoye, Salome Omamo, Charity Limboro, Isaiah Ojwang, and Michael Murage

Institute of Education (University of London): Jenny Parkes – Research Coordinator

Jo Heslop – Research Offi cer

ActionAid:Asmara Figue – International Project Manager AAIFlorence Kinyua – National Project Manager AAIKSheikh Maro – Project Offi cer AAIKMwanajuma Hiribae – Community Development

Facilitator, Wenje-DI AAIK

Girl Child Network:Purity Gitonga – Programmes Offi cer GBVEnnet Salma – Field Project Offi cer SVAGS


APPENDIX II: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND PROTOCOL DOCUMENT ESTABLISHING THE STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT

) Conceptual framework for the study

The conceptual framework for this project builds on the three research approaches to violence against girls and on ActionAid’s work on gender (ActionAid 2008). At the centre of the project are girls themselves, and their everyday relationships with other girls and boys, with families, with teachers and with others in their communities. While much violence experienced by girls takes place within these relationships, schools, families and neighbourhoods are also important sites for teaching and learning about safety and empowerment. Side by side with this central focus on girls and interactions, we are concerned with the gendered power relations in which girls live their lives, where aspects of the local, national, regional and global political economy produce violence and limit their space for action within families, schools and communities, as well as being arenas with opportunities for change. Finally we are concerned to document the types and levels of acts of violence experienced by girls, since this information can be valuable to signal change. By combining these three approaches, we can begin to understand why and how change may be happening.

We have synthesised these into a “conceptual framework” to guide a common understanding of gender, violence against girls, rights and empowerment, as depicted in the diagram below. This diagram portrays the four main spheres (political, economic, socio-cultural and health; and policy frameworks), that interact with the overarching sphere of education to produce violence against girls in and around school. Girls are at the centre within every day interactions (the inner ring) and institutions (the outer ring). Examples of acts of violence, and conditions producing violence, are depicted within the circles according to their “distance” from the girl (i.e. institutional environment on the outside to everyday interactions in girls’ lives nearer the middle). Unequal power relations based on gender, age and socio-economic background are central to this framework of violence against girls in schools.

The conceptual framework has underpinned the design of the baseline study, guiding the development of the data collection tools. The fi ndings will enable us to understand the connections between acts of violence, interactions and social conditions in girls’ lives, and thus inform how best to design initiatives to support girls and reduce vulnerability.

99

Recent/current

war/conflict

Control of girls’

sexuality and sexual

and reproductive

health, e.g. school

exclusion due to

pregnancy

High

unemployment

Stereotyped media

portrayals of

girls/women

Reporting of

abuse

mechanisms

Religious and customary codes

on gender, e.g. dowry, early

marriage, decision making)

Hidden

curriculum – no

spaces for girls

to speak out

Low access to

welfare/health/police services

Gendered identities,

e.g. tough

masculinities,

compliant

femininities

Sexualharassment

Coercive

school

disciplinesystem

Unsafe

journey to

school

Burden in

housework

for girls

Sexual and

physical abuse in

the home and

community

Lack of

legislation

protecting

girls fromviolence

Poor

implementa

tion ofpolicy

Low

access Low

participation

Low

attainment

Formal

curriculum

School

management

and duties

Economic

inequalities

The conceptual framework has underpinned the design of the baseline study, guiding the development of the data collection tools. The fi ndings will enable us to understand the connections between acts of violence, interactions and social conditions in girls’ lives, and thus inform how best to design initiatives to support girls and reduce vulnerability.

We also developed and agreed defi nitions of concepts that are central to the study and the project more broadly. These are set out below.

Violence against girls: This project defi nes acts of violence as those set out by the UN Declaration on the Elimination of all forms of Violence against Women:“The term “violence against women” means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life. Accordingly, violence against women encompasses but is not limited to the following: (a) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related violence, marital


rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence and violence related to exploitation;(b) Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in

educational institutions and elsewhere, traffi cking in women and forced prostitution;(c) Physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the State, wherever it occurs” (United Nations General Assembly 1994).

Gender: While girls’ and boys’ experiences of violence may be very different, we do not believe this is because of inherent differences. We understand femininity, masculinity and gender to be socially constructed and hence changeable. This means that our assumptions about what it means to be a boy or a girl are guided by historical and social relations, which infl uence the beliefs and practices that come to be taken for granted and understood as true, fi xed and unchanging. In many parts of the world these assumptions have come to include notions of male superiority and female subordination, and have produced inequitable gender relations. Even if males may be often more powerful and privileged than females, there are multiple gender identities. For example, there are many different ways to be a man, some are more valued than others, and men experience pressure to conform to these dominant norms. Not all do conform, but many who don’t experience discrimination and disadvantage. However, ideas about gender do change over time and place, and we believe that through advocacy, community level intervention and research, it is possible to work together with girls and their communities to challenge gendered assumptions that produce inequality, discrimination and violence.

Rights and Empowerment: At the centre of our concern are the agency, judgement and action of girls in and around schools. While we seek to understand the social conditions and relations that constrain girls, we aim to understand the processes through which girls enhance their capabilities to safety and bodily integrity, and more broadly to claim rights and human dignity, achieve education, and to work to transform unjust structures. We understand empowerment as developing girls’ individual and collective agency, through working with girls and other actors, including boys, to raise critical consciousness of girls’ rights and social justice; increase the extent to which girls regard themselves as central players to ensure the realization of these rights so as to increase life choices through building support, solidarity and networks within a collaborative ‘action space’.

101

b) Research Protocol The purpose of the research protocol is to outline how we will carry out the research in ways which are high quality, rigorous and ethical, as agreed in the research workshop held in Accra, March 2009. The protocol addresses three main areas: 1. Research design 2. Ethics and safety 3. Researcher selection, training and communication.

In each section, we outline the key problems or challenges, and in italics the principles that have been agreed to guide our work.

i Research design

Designing research which is rigorous, credible and persuasive A key challenge researching violence with young people is to design studies that give accurate, reliable and transferable fi ndings, and at the same time that are able to tap into subjective experience and meanings. Quantitative research elicits broad trends and comparisons, and provides data that can easily be used to both measure change, to generalise and to inform advocacy/policy work. However, it is unable to capture perspectives and experiences of research participants, details of the context, and it does not explain how or why change takes place. Meanwhile, qualitative research elicits fi ne grained detail about experiences, perceptions and meanings and can

help explain the quantitative data. It may be more effective for fi nding out about sensitive and taboo topics, and for tapping into some of the more subjective constructs that are diffi cult to measure, such as confi dence and support (outcome 4 of this project).

The baseline study combined quantitative and qualitative approaches, in order to provide in-depth data about violence against girls, and to generate fi ndings which are measurable, in order to inform advocacy work and to be able to measure change over the duration of the project. The methodologies selected will be underpinned by the conceptual framework, M&E plans, project outcomes and research questions.

Verifi cation: Trustworthiness, reliability and validityThe reliability or trustworthiness of the research refers to how consistent the information we gather will be if we use the same instruments with the same person. For example, are we likely to get the same response from a girl if she is asked the same question again? The factors that are likely to affect this are: the way the questions are asked; who is asking the questions; the environmental conditions (for example, whether she is at home, school or elsewhere, if there are people around, if she believes that her responses will be confi dential or have any repercussions to her safety or wellbeing).

Validity is a contested term with different meanings in quantitative and qualitative research. In quantitative research


it refers to the extent that the research will measure what it is designed to measure. This may be affected by the instruments that are used or questions asked, the methodologies used and the researcher-participant relationship. Under-reporting of violence is a major risk for research on violence against girls. As well as providing inaccurate baseline data for the project, research that inaccurately reports low levels of violence could be used to question the importance of addressing violence in the project area. The way that questions are worded affects the rates of disclosure. Questions should avoid using terms such as ‘rape’, ‘abuse’ and ‘violence’ that are loaded and open to interpretation and instead ask specifi c questions about acts (such as being beaten or being forced to do something sexual she found degrading or humiliating), places (such as home or school or church) and people (such as teachers, parents or other pupils). In qualitative research, validity refers to the adequacy of the researcher to understand and represent people’s meanings, giving as ‘truthful’ version of reality as possible.

We maximised the accuracy, reliability and validity of the research through detailed analysis of the context before commencing the baseline study, and involving research participants and intervention partners in designing and piloting instruments, sensitivity to environmental conditions, and careful recruitment and training of researchers. A range of instruments (e.g. focus groups, interviews and checklists) were used to increase reliability through using more than one way of gathering information (triangulation). Specifi c actions include:

• Country context reviews – Research partners in each country will review existing data about the local, provincial and national contexts

• School and community profi les – Research partners will complete a checklist with information about each school and community

• Consulting communities/trialling – Researchers will hold focus groups and discussions with community members (e.g. group of girls at selected ages, group of teachers/headteacher, group of parents) in order to consult about content and terminology (including wording of questions) of draft research instruments. Instruments will then be revised before pre-testing.

Sampling and controlsAlthough using both intervention and control schools (that are not involved in the intervention) in the baseline and endline research might help us to see whether any change over time is a result of the interventions, we have decided not to use control schools because of methodological and ethical challenges, including:

• Ethical concerns of research without support, for example, unearthing high levels of violence against girls in control schools but providing no community intervention to assist

• We cannot control for programmes that may be implemented (for example, by other NGOs) in control schools, which may distort the results

103

• Our resources do not allow a full scale community randomised trial and numbers of participating schools are small; therefore using control schools is likely to add very little to the research results.

All too often research only includes the voices of the more powerful or infl uential members of communities, and the views of children and marginalised groups are not represented. This needs to be taken into account when sampling, including choices of which schools, and which people to include in the research.

The baseline research did not include control schools, but schools for quantitative and qualitative research will be carefully selected, taking into account demographic characteristics and prior interventions. In particular, the School and Context profi ling enabled careful selection of schools for qualitative instruments. The baseline research gathered data from a wide range of participants in schools and communities, including for example women’s groups as well as community leaders. At the heart of the research were girls’ perspectives and we strived to listen to girls at all stages. When introducing the research in communities, we tried to maximise the participation of all groups, and the choice of methods were sensitive to the needs of the participants.

Data analysisIt is important to avoid bias in the analysis and interpretation of data. There may be a possibility to over-interpret or to

over-generalise on the basis of limited information, and insuffi cient contextualisation of fi ndings. For example, a statistic that suggests high levels of female school enrolment may be incorrectly interpreted as meaning there are no problems with gender inequalities in schooling; or an instance of sexual violence perpetrated by a teacher is diffi cult to interpret without understanding the school context, including gender relations within the school. While the qualitative information may strengthen the interpretation of quantitative fi gures, it is important to take into account the subjectivity of data. For example, people are likely to be selective about what they choose to tell about their experiences of violence; and group interviews have a tendency to bring out societal norms and to emphasise the views of dominant members of the group. Extreme instances that are widely known about in communities may be reported by many individuals, and so gain prominence in the data though they may be rare instances. In contrast, minor, everyday violences may be so taken for granted that they are not named by participants. Bias in reporting results in inaccurate representation and can misleadingly label groups, of for example teachers or communities.

Systematic and rigorous methods of data analysis were developed to provide an accurate and credible representation of violence against girls. To ensure data accuracy, once data has been input into a computer programme (e.g. SPSS) and before it is analysed it should be checked and cleaned (identifying incomplete or incorrect parts of the data and


then replacing, modifying or deleting this ‘dirty data’). As it is never possible to eradicate all bias, all reporting included critical refl ection on limitations and possible alternative interpretations. Bias in analysis was reduced by developing procedures for cross-checking between researchers, and for consulting about draft reports with intervention and advocacy partners, and with communities. In our reporting, we will try to avoid negative stereotypes, for example by highlighting how inequality and conditions can contribute towards differences.

ii. Ethics and safety

Power in the research processWhile it is important that all research is conducted according to ethical principles, in research on sensitive subjects like violence, and research with children and young people, this is particularly important because of the increased risks of causing harm/distress and because of the power imbalance between the researcher and participant. Children are often used to being judged and disciplined and may hide their views in favour of presenting an account of their experiences more “acceptable” to adults. Children may also feel obliged to answer all questions, even if they do not want to, because they have been asked to by an adult.

At all stages of the research, we will aim to respect participants, to treat people fairly, and to safeguard their welfare, minimizing risks and assuring that benefi ts outweigh risks. We will use methods/approaches to minimise power

imbalances and help children to express themselves, such as participatory group activities and questions early in interviews that help young people feel at ease. We will ensure that less powerful members of communities, including women, participate in focus group discussions and interviews.

Confi dentiality Confi dentiality is especially important when conducting research on violence against girls, as the act of revealing violence may put participants at more risk of violence. For example, previous studies have reported that in schools/homes where abusive teachers/husbands have been suspicious that girls/women may be reporting violence, the risk of further violence increases. Maintaining privacy is important for encouraging open expression of views, but it can be both practically diffi cult and occasionally harmful, when for example a neighbour/relative wants to know what is being hidden. Data should not be disaggregated in a way that could identify individuals, groups or communities. If specifi c data must be presented in the analysis (such as in a case study) then it may be necessary to remove or change certain details that may identify them, as long as this is recorded and does not affect the meaning of the data.

Confi dentiality and anonymity will be maintained throughout the research, including during data collection, analysis, data storage and reporting. We will try to ensure privacy during interviews. Data will be stored in a way so as not to identify individuals’ responses, for example by coding questionnaires/

105

participants and schools/communities rather than using names, and by securing data so that only those who need to access the data for the project can do so.

Informed consentIt is very important that children are not coerced into participating in the research against their will. Some research protocols advise gaining written consent from participants before undertaking research with them. However, the hazards are likely to outweigh the benefi ts of this approach, making participants feel intimidated or uncomfortable. Action Aid’s Child Protection Policy states that parents should provide consent when any activities are carried out with children. However, in some cases this could lead to parents telling children how to participate in the research or not consenting to their participation (possibly skewing results if these children may be at more risk of violence). On the other hand, conducting research without parental approval could provoke a backlash if parents discover their child’s participation without their knowledge or consent.

Informed consent means that all participants, including children, will be given clear information about the project, to be able to choose not to participate, and to withdraw at any time. Researchers will seek permissions to carry out the research in schools according to existing procedures in each country (e.g. permit from Education Department, or district). While written permission from parents is inappropriate where there are high levels of adult illiteracy, permission will be

sought either through community discussions or via school staff.

Disclosure and safety of participantsResearching the topic of violence increases the risk that violence will be disclosed during the research process. While in some contexts it may be possible to follow local child protection procedures, this is problematic in contexts where offi cial support and reporting mechanisms are absent or inadequate. There may also be a tension between maintaining confi dentiality and passing on information when a researcher considers a child to be at risk of severe harm. Action Aid’s Child Protection policy states that if violence is disclosed or suspected then the staff member should take detailed confi dential notes; report the case to their line manager who reports it to the country representative; and report the case to child protection agencies or authorities if there are concerns about the child’s health, physical injury, sexual exploitation or criminal activity.

Researchers have a duty to ensure support and reporting mechanisms are in place if violence is disclosed during the research process. At the stage of consulting communities/trialling, it will be important to map out local support available and reporting mechanisms, including exploring the possible role of community intervention partners in providing ongoing support. Researchers will also consider whether it is desirable/ feasible for a trained counsellor to accompany the research team.


Safety and wellbeing of researchersResearchers may also face risks to their safety and wellbeing, either through witnessing violence or by the research process generating anger. They may experience distress by stories they are told, or their experiences conducting the research may reignite painful memories of their own experiences of violence.

Researcher training and support needs to ensure their safety and wellbeing. Researchers will work in small teams, and will be supported by the lead researchers during the fi eldwork. There will be regular debriefi ng meetings during the research, allowing researchers to share what they are hearing and how they are feeling, along with opportunities to discuss these issues in private. Researcher training will include how to manage hostility and anger.

iii. Researcher training, selection and communication

Researcher selectionResearch guidelines recommend that researchers are not from the same community (for trust and confi dentiality reasons), but at the same time care needs to be taken to select researchers who speak the local languages, and who are able to understand, or empathise with, the experiences of participants in research communities. Researchers from more privileged ethnic or class groups may be quick to judge and generalise about ‘others’. This may be especially the case when researching violence against girls, where beliefs, perspectives and practices may differ. On the other hand, sometimes (for example in some qualitative approaches)

having a different perspective may enhance a researcher’s ability to critically explore participants’ responses.

Researcher trainingResearchers involved in research on violence need training and support over and above that normally provided to research staff. This should include an orientation on concepts of violence, gender and gender inequality and children’s rights, and issues around violence against girls in schools. The training needs to include opportunities for researchers to refl ect on both their own prejudices and experiences of violence and consider how these might affect the quality of their work and their welfare. Researchers also need full training in the research protocol, including research ethics and child protection procedures to be implemented during the research, and any other procedures identifi ed. Researchers need an opportunity to practise with refl ection their use of the research instruments. Support mechanisms need to be in place during fi eld research to help researchers manage their safety and wellbeing and to monitor progress and quality of the research.

Communication between research partners With research partners in several countries, and with several project partners in each country, the need for a communication plan is paramount. Researchers work within different disciplines, and are familiar with different approaches to research, with some for example more comfortable with interpretive, qualitative approaches, and others more familiar with more quantitative ‘scientifi c’ paradigms. While these differences will add value to the research, we will also need to fi nd ways to negotiate differences and to support each other with capacity building.

107

Appendix III: Defi nition of Terms

Access to Sanitation Facilities: Refers to the percentage of the population with access to at least adequate excreta disposal facilities (private or shared, but not public) that can effectively prevent human, animal, and insect contact with excreta.

Access to Water Source: Refers to the percentage of the population with reasonable access to an adequate amount of water from a source, such as a household connection, public standpipe, borehole, protected well or spring, or rainwater collection.

Crude Birth Rate: The number of births per thousand of the population. The product of the number of live births, divided by the midpoint population, and multiplied by 1,000.

Crude Death Rate: The number of deaths per thousand of the population. Unimproved sources include vendors, tanker trucks, and unprotected wells and springs.

GNI per Capita (PPP): The gross national income (GNI) converted to international dollars using purchasing power parity (PPP) rates. An international dollar has the same purchasing power over GNI as a U.S. dollar has in the United States.

Human Development Index: The HDI is a composite index that measures the average achievements in a country

in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, as measured by life expectancy at birth; knowledge, as measured by the adult literacy rate and the combined gross enrollment ratio for primary, secondary, and tertiary schools; and a decent standard of living, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in purchasing power parity (PPP) US dollars.

Income Inequality (Gini index): This index measures the degree of inequality in the distribution of family income in a country. It is calculated from the Lorenz curve, in which cumulative family income is plotted against the number of families arranged from the poorest to the richest. The index is the ratio of (a) the area between a country’s Lorenz curve and the 45 degree helping line to (b) the entire triangular area under the 45 degree line. The more nearly equal a country’s income distribution, the closer its Lorenz curve to the 45 degree line and the lower its Gini index. The more unequal a country’s income distribution is, the higher its Gini index. If income were distributed with perfect equality, the index would be zero; if income were distributed with perfect inequality, the index would be 100.

Life Expectancy at Birth: The average number of years that a person at age 0 will live if age-specifi c death rates remain constant. Life expectancy at birth is highly affected by rates of infant and child death.


Physicians per 1,000 People: Physicians are defi ned as graduates of any faculty or school of medicine who are working in the country in any medical fi eld (practice, teaching, research).

Population below Poverty Line: National estimates of the percentage of the population falling below the poverty line are based on surveys of sub-groups, with the results weighted by the number of people in each group. Defi nitions of poverty vary considerably among nations.

Population Living Below $1 a Day: The percentage of the population living below the specifi ed poverty line of $1 a day at 1985 international prices (equivalent to $1.08 at 1993 international prices), adjusted for purchasing power parity.

Real GDP (Growth) Rate: This entry gives the gross domestic product (GDP) growth on an annual basis adjusted for infl ation and expressed as a percent.

Women, 15-49: The number of women between the ages of 15-49 in the midyear population.

Demographic Indicators

Healthy Life Expectancy: The number of years of in full health that a newborn can expect to live based on current rates of ill-health and mortality. HALE is based on life expectancy at birth but includes an adjustment for time spent in poor health.

Number of Live Births: The number of live births, annually, within a country.

Population Growth Rate: The average annual growth rate is the rate of natural increase in a population plus the net migration rate. The rate of natural increase is the difference between the birth rate and the death rate, but it is conventionally measured in percentage terms (per hundred rather than per thousand).

Total Population: The number of people in a given area (i.e., country) in a particular time period (usually a midyear estimate).

Family Planning Indicators

Contraceptive Prevalence Rate, Modern Methods, All Women: Percentage of all women ages 15-49 currently using a modern method of contraception. Modern methods include oral contraceptives, IUDs, injectables, female and male sterilization, all emergency contraception, and barrier methods.

Mean Ideal Family Size: Mean ideal number of children for all women, according to number of living children.

Median Age of Sexual debut among Women, Ages 25-49: Median age of fi rst sexual intercourse for women ages 25-49.

Total Fertility Rate: The number of children a woman between ages 15-49 would have during her reproductive life,

109

if, for all of her childbearing years she were to experience the age-specifi c birth rates for that given year.

Women 20-24 who gave birth before Age 20: Percentage of women ages 20-24 who have given birth before age 20.

Maternal Health Indicators

Antenatal Care (at least 1 visit): Percentage of women of reproductive age (15-49) who receive at least one antenatal care visit during pregnancy (in the three-year period preceding the survey).

Assisted delivery by a health professional: The percentage of births/deliveries that occur with the assistance of any trained health professional during the fi ve-year period preceding the survey. May include doctors, nurses, or midwives.

Maternal Mortality Ratio (WHO): The estimated number of women who die as a result of pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births, adjustment procedure depending on the nature of data used.

Child Survival Indicators

Improved sanitation/hygiene practices: Number of households with child under 5 years of age whose youngest child’s feces was safely disposed of the last time he/she passed stool/total number of households with a child under 5 years of age.

Infant Mortality Rate (DHS): The estimated annual number of deaths of infants under 12 months in a given year per 1,000 live births in that same year (fi ve-year period preceding survey).

Neonatal Mortality Rate: The estimated number of infant deaths in the fi rst month of life per 1,000 live births in the fi ve-year period preceding the survey.

Under-5 Mortality Rate (DHS): Annual number of deaths that occur in children 0-4 years old per 1,000 births (fi ve-year period preceding survey).

Education Indicators

Adult Literacy Rate: Percentage of the total population ages 15 and over who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement about their everyday life.

Gender Parity Index: The ratio of the female-to-male values (or male to female, in certain cases) of net primary school enrollment rates (NER).

Gross Enrollment Ratio - Primary School: Total enrolment in primary level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the population in the offi cial age group corresponding to primary level of education. The GER can exceed 100% due to late entry or/and repetition.


Net Enrollment Ratio: NER measures the number of pupils in the offi cial age group for a given level of education, expressed as a percentage of the population in that age group.

HIV/AIDS Prevention Indicators

Estimated number of people living with HIV: Estimated number of adults and children living with HIV. Adults are 15 years and over. Children are defi ned as those aged 0–14 years.

HIV Prevalence proportion: Adults (15–49 years) The adult HIV prevalence proportion is the estimated number of adults living with HIV divided by the adult population (aged 15–49).

Forms of Violence

Physical Violence: Includes different forms of corporal punishment; beating, whipping, grabbing, kneeling, and attack with weapons. In this category whipping or caning, and making pupils/children to kneel or squat for a very long time are some of the forms of corporal punishment, while

beating may not necessarily a form of punishment. Beating therefore includes any form of physical attack like fi ghting, punching, kicking, or slapping including attack with an object. Grabbing on the other hand refers to pinching, twisting ear lobes, or pulling hair. Violence by use of weapons refer to attack with sticks stones, knives, pangas, arrows or any item believed to be a weapon.

Psychological violence: Types of violence that affects one’s emotions such as insults, threats and letters written to pupils were identifi ed and described as the most common. Insults include name calling, or shouting at someone; Threats include intimidation, or frightening with harm or punishment; and letters refers to receiving threatening or unwanted letters.

Sexual violence: Includes the act of forcing school girls to engage in sexually motivated activity without their consent and is often accompanied by other types of violence including physical and psychological ones. The examples are peeping in toilets, mirrors or under the desk; Indecent touching like pinching breasts, buttocks, or private parts; making Sexual comments; Forced or unwanted sex; and Forced sex or coerced sex in exchange for food, gifts, grades, or money.

111

Appendix V: Additional School Participation Data in Wenje Division

Enrolment/Attendance Indicators

Table 7: Gender parity in enrolment by banded school years by school

2006 2007 2008

girls boys GPI girls boys GPI girls boys GPI101 Primary 143 179 0.80 153 188 0.81 166 246 0.67102 Primary 162 173 0.94 186 191 0.97 183 191 0.96103 Primary 42 34 1.24 40 39 1.03 42 35 1.20104 Primary 130 141 0.92 133 145 0.92 132 98 1.35105 Primary 49 43 1.14 18 41 0.44 49 45 1.09106 Primary 92 80 1.15 94 83 1.13 102 90 1.13107 Primary 216 213 1.01 204 210 0.97 201 209 0.96108 Primary 75 91 0.82 83 99 0.84 83 105 0.79109 Primary 204 183 1.11 215 204 1.05 276 211 1.31110 Primary 60 80 0.75 66 91 0.73 84 101 0.83111 Primary 29 21 1.38 29 21 1.38 26 24 1.08112 Primary 63 146 0.43 75 140 0.54 96 167 0.57113 Primary 143 156 0.92 175 199 0.88 188 199 0.94114 Primary 61 69 0.88 68 73 0.93 73 69 1.06115 Primary 108 123 0.88 111 11 10.09 136 132 1.03116 Primary 179 165 1.08 180 188 0.96 193 189 1.02TOTAL 1756 1897 0.93 1830 1923 0.95 2030 2111 0.96

117 Primary 28 32 0.88 37 36 1.03 37 40 0.93


Table 8: Gender parity in proportions of enrolled students who attend by banded school years in all schools

Year 2006 GPI 2007 GPI 2008 GPIGender BOYS GIRLS BOYS GIRLS BOYS GIRLS

Proportion of enrolled who attend (all schools)

0.79 0.74 0.93 0.85 0.78 0.93 0.68 0.71 0.96

Number of Schools with data 14 14 14 14 13 13 Source: Statistics and EMIS Section, MoE 2008

Table 9: Gender parity in proportions of enrolled pupils who attend by school

Girls Boys GPI101 Primary 60% 62% 0.97102 Primary 85% 80% 1.06103 Primary 95% 99% 0.97104 Primary 98% 102% 0.97105 Primary 99% 96% 1.04106 Primary 58% 108% 0.54107 Primary 94% 81% 1.16108 Primary 96% 95% 1.02109 Primary 92% 109% 0.84110 Primary 68% 100% 0.68111 Primary 112 Primary 85% 85% 1.00113 Primary 114 Primary 115 Primary 116 Primary 99% 99% 1.00TOTAL 68% 71% 0.96117 Primary 100% 98% 1.03

113

Table 10: Gender parity in proportions of enrolled students who attend by banded school years by school

YEAR 2006 GPI 2007 GPI 2008 GPI

SCHOOL BOYS GIRLS BOYS GIRLS BOYS GIRLS

101 Primary 1 0.99 0.99 1 1 1.00 0.60 0.62 0.97102 Primary 0.92 0.93 1.01 0.95 0.95 1.00 0.85 0.80 1.06103 Primary 0.83 0.74 0.89 0.83 0.79 0.95 0.95 0.99 0.97104 Primary 0.86 0.86 1.00 0.84 0.9 1.07 0.98 1.02 0.97105 Primary 0.67 0.68 1.01 1 0.9 0.90 0.99 0.96 1.04106 Primary 1 1 1.00 1 0.9 0.90 0.58 1.08 0.54107 Primary no data no data no data no data no data no data 0.94 0.81 1.16108 Primary 0.81 0.81 1.00 1 0.73 0.73 0.96 0.95 1.02109 Primary 1 0.98 0.98 1 1 1.00 0.92 1.09 0.84110 Primary no data no data no data no data no data no data 0.68 1.00 0.68111 Primary 1 1 1.00 1 1 1.00 112 Primary 0.73 0.7 0.96 0.87 0.77 0.89 0.85 0.85 1.00113 Primary 0.88 0.81 0.92 0.9 0.81 0.90 114 Primary no data no data no data no data no data no data 115 Primary 0.88 0.75 0.85 0.95 0.92 0.97 116 Primary 0.79 0.81 1.03 0.95 0.81 0.85 0.99 0.99 1.00

Special school117 Primary 0.81 0.79 0.98 1 1 1.00 1 0.98 1.03


Table 11: Changes in gender parity in enrolment and attendance over time 2006-2008

YEAR 2006 2007 2008 GENDER BOYS GIRLS BOYS GIRLS BOYS GIRLSSCHOOL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NUMBER ENROLLED AND ATTENDANCE OVER THE YEARS101 Primary 0 1 0 0 2 0102 Primary 1 1 2 2 2 3103 Primary 4 6 4 5 no data no data104 Primary 3 3 3 2 2 2105 Primary 6 7 0 2 1 1106 Primary 0 0 0 2 4 8107 Primary no data no data no data no data no data no data108 Primary 4 4 0 5 1 1109 Primary 0 1 0 0 1 0110 Primary no data no data no data no data no data no data111 Primary 0 0 0 0 3 1112 Primary 6 7 4 5 3 0113 Primary 2 3 2 3 0 0114 Primary no data no data no data no data no data no data115 Primary 2 4 1 2 3 5116 Primary 4 3 1 3 1 1

Special school117 Primary 2 4 0 0 0 3TOTAL NON-ATTENDACE

34 44 17 31 23 25

115

III. Progression and Attainment in Education

Table 12: Nos. and percentages of female pupils repeating, by class/grade, and by school 2008

Girls Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Class 6 Class 7 Class 8 TotalRepetition rate

101 Primary 102 Primary 19 14 3 12 12 6 5 9 71 39%103 Primary 104 Primary 21 13 5 10 3 6 7 58 44%105 Primary 106 Primary 2 2 1 2 7 7%107 Primary 2 5 1 2 3 1 3 17 8%108 Primary 109 Primary 8 3 3 14 5%110 Primary 4 2 3 7 7 7 30 36%111 Primary 112 Primary 14 6 3 0 0 0 3 0 26 27%113 Primary 114 Primary 1 4 5 2 12 16%115 Primary 20 1 2 4 27 20%116 Primary 36 7 6 3 1 53 27%TOTAL 119 51 20 39 31 29 31 11 315 21%

117 Primary 3 2 2 1 8 22%


Table 13: Nos. and percentages of male pupils repeating, by class/grade, and by school 2008

Boys Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Class 6 Class 7 Class 8 TotalRepetition

rate101 Primary 102 Primary 10 2 12 8 7 7 6 97 51%103 Primary 1 1 3%104 Primary 9 8 8 4 3 7 39 40%105 Primary 106 Primary 1 1 1 5 6%107 Primary 3 2 3 2 4 1 3 18 9%108 Primary 109 Primary 13 2 4 1 20 9%110 Primary 9 2 4 3 6 5 29 29%111 Primary 112 Primary 24 1 2 0 0 0 15 0 42 25%113 Primary 114 Primary 3 1 1 4 9 13%115 Primary 15 3 2 2 22 17%116 Primary 31 8 2 5 3 1 50 26%TOTAL 103 26 28 40 17 27 38 6 332 22%

117 Primary 3 1 4 10%

117

Table 14: Girls’ drop out, by class/grade, and by school 2008

Girls Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Class 6 Class 7Class

8 TotalDrop out rate

101 Primary 102 Primary 2 2 4 8 4%103 Primary 104 Primary 105 Primary 106 Primary 2 2 1 5 5%107 Primary 2 3 2 1 1 3 12 6%108 Primary 109 Primary 1 2 2 5 2%110 Primary 1 1 2 4 5%111 Primary 112 Primary 14 6 3 0 0 0 3 0 26 27%113 Primary 114 Primary 115 Primary 116 Primary 1 2 2 1 6 3%TOTAL 19 13 7 6 7 9 5 0 66 6%

117 Primary 2 1 1 2 1 7 19%


Table 15: Boys’ drop out, by class/grade, and by school 2008

Boys Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Class 6 Class 7 Class 8 TotalDrop out rate

101 Primary 102 Primary 1 3 1 5 3%103 Primary 104 Primary 105 Primary 106 Primary 2 2 4 4%107 Primary 5 4 2 1 2 4 2 20 10%108 Primary 109 Primary 2 1 3 1%110 Primary 111 Primary 112 Primary 24 1 2 0 0 0 15 0 42 25%113 Primary 114 Primary 115 Primary 116 Primary 2 1 3 2%TOTAL 77 7%

117 Primary 1 4 10%

119

Table 16: Nos. and percentages of male and female pupils who progress to the next class, by school 2006

SCHOOL 2006 GIRLS BOYS TOTAL GPI

N % N % 101 Primary 177 87% 180 98% 357 0.89102 Primary 191 91% 191 90% 382 1.01103 Primary 148 100% 155 99% 303 1.01104 Primary 135 83% 141 825 276 0.00105 Primary 125 45% 137 525 262 0.00106 Primary ND ND ND ND ND 107 Primary ND ND ND ND ND 108 Primary 27 100% 31 94% 58 1.06109 Primary 47 76% 61 76% 108 1.00110 Primary 61 100% 65 94% 126 1.06111 Primary 80 62% 74 52% 154 1.19112 Primary 88 96% 77 96% 165 1.00113 Primary ND ND ND ND ND 114 Primary ND ND ND ND ND 115 Primary 116 81% 130 73% 246 1.11116 Primary 36 86% 30 88% 66 0.98117 Primary 177 87% 180 98% 357 0.89TOTAL 1408 84% 1452 84% 2860 1.00


Table 17: Nos. and percentages of male and female pupils who progress to the next class, by school 2007

SCHOOL 2007GIRLS BOYS TOTAL GPIN % N %

101 Primary 201 93% 204 100% 405 0.93102 Primary 192 94% 199 95% 391 0.99103 Primary 142 81% 239 100% 381 0.81104 Primary 187 100% 178 93% 365 1.08105 Primary 140 78% 141 75% 281 1.04106 Primary ND ND ND ND ND 107 Primary ND ND ND ND ND 108 Primary 37 100% 36 100% 73 1.00109 Primary 80 100% 61 67% 141 1.49110 Primary 68 100% 73 100% 141 1.00111 Primary 116 87% 134 92% 250 0.95112 Primary 101 100% 92 100% 193 1.00113 Primary ND ND ND ND ND 114 Primary ND ND ND ND ND 115 Primary 103 67% 138 73% 241 0.92116 Primary 38 95% 36 92% 74 1.03117 Primary 201 93% 204 100% 405 0.93TOTAL 1606 91% 1735 91% 3341 1.00

121

Table 18: Nos. and percentages of male and female pupils who progress to the next class, by class/grade 2008

Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5 Class 6 Class 7 Class 8 Total

Girls

N 348 266 221 245 207 105 81 37 1510

% 88% 92% 90% 89% 87% 95% 78% 109% 87%

117 school for the deaf 12 4 6 2 3 3 6 1 37

Boys

N 332 276 234 209 202 157 132 100 1642

% 89% 93% 94% 81% 102% 101% 83% 116% 91%

117 school for the deaf 18 5 5 4 2 2 ND 4 40

GPI 1.00 0.99 0.95 1.09 0.85 0.94 0.94 0.94 0.96

Table 19: Numbers and percentages of girls and boys sitting and passing KCPE examination 2008

Girls Boys

GPI

No. sitting KPCE

No. passing KPCE

% enrolled who sat exam

% sitting exam who passed

% enrolled class 8 who passed

No. sitting KPCE

No. passing KPCE

% enrolled who sat exam

% sitting exam who passed

% enrolled class 8 who passed

101 Primary 6 6 100% 100% 100% 13 13 100% 100% 100% 1.00102 Primary 8 2 100% 25% 25% 104 Primary 4 2 100% 50% 50% 8 4 89% 50% 44% 1.13105 Primary 4 1 100% 25% 25% 106 Primary 4 4 100% 100% 100% 107 Primary 4 2 80% 50% 40% 12 8 63% 67% 42% 0.95108 Primary 3 1 100% 33% 33% 11 11 100% 100% 100% 0.33109 Primary 4 3 57% 75% 43% 5 5 71% 100% 71% 0.60110 Primary 6 4 100% 67% 67% 112 Primary 0 0 0% 0% 0% 0 0 0% 0% 0% 1.00113 Primary 5 3 125% 60% 75% 26 19 260% 73% 190% 0.39114 Primary 6 3 100% 50% 50% 11 9 100% 82% 82% 0.61115 Primary 8 1 114% 13% 14% TOTAL 44 22 94% 50% 47% 107 79 102% 74% 75% 0.62

117 Primary 1 100% 2 0% 50%

IV. School Environment

Table 21a: Teacher qualifi cations, by sex and by school (and across all schools)

MALE

(N)MALE

(%)FEMALE

(N)FEMALE

(%) TOTAL TEACHER SEX

RATIO (f/m)Number of teachers 2008 with p1 qualifi cation 43 60.6% 21 65.6% 64 0.49

Number of teachers 2008 with p2 qualifi cation 6 8.5% 8 25.0% 14 1.33

Number of teachers 2008 with p3 qualifi cation 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0

Number of teachers 2008 with s1 qualifi cation 4 5.6% 0 0.0% 4 0

Number of teachers 2008 with approved teacher qualifi cation 10 14.1% 2 6.3% 12 0.2

Number of teachers 2008 with diploma qualifi cation 3 4.2% 1 3.1% 4 0.33

Number of teachers 2008 with B.Ed /BA/BSc qualifi cation 1 1.4% 0 0.0% 1 0

Number of teachers 2008 with other qualifi cation 4 5.6% 0 0.0% 4 0

Total number of teachers 2008 with any qualifi cation level 71 32 103 0.45

Table 21b: Teacher qualifi cations, by sex and by school (and across all schools)

QUALIFICATION P1 P2 S1 APPROVED DIPLOMA BSC/ BED/ BA OTHERT M F M F M F M F M F M F M F

101 Primary 8 4 3 1

102 Primary 8 5 1 1 1

116 Primary 7 2 2 3

104 Primary 6 4 2 1

105 Primary 7 4 1 1 1

106 Primary 6 3 1 1 1

111 Primary 1 1

108 Primary 8 2 1 1 3 1 1

109 Primary 6 2 1 2 1 1

110 Primary 5 4 1

107 Primary 6 3 1 2 1

112 Primary 6 1 1 2 2

113 Primary ND

114 Primary 6 2 2 1 1

115 Primary 7 2 1 2 1 1 1

103 Primary 2 1 1

117 School for the deaf

9 4 3 1 1

TOTAL 103 43 21 6 8 4 0 10 2 3 1 1 0 4 0

SCHOOL GENDER MEAN YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

101 Primary MALE 16102 Primary FEMALE 12103 Primary MALE 15104 Primary FEMALE NO DATA105 Primary MALE NO DATA106 Primary FEMALE 22107 Primary MALE 13108 Primary FEMALE 12109 Primary MALE 24110 Primary FEMALE 18101 Primary MALE 13102 Primary FEMALE NO DATA103 Primary MALE 17104 Primary FEMALE 4105 Primary MALE 10106 Primary FEMALE NO DATA107 Primary MALE 1

SCHOOL GENDER MEAN YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

108 Primary FEMALE 6109 Primary MALE 15110 Primary FEMALE 25111 Primary MALE 15

FEMALE NO DATA112 Primary MALE 1



FEMALE 6115 Primary MALE 14


FEMALE 10117 School for the deaf

MALE 19FEMALE NO DATA

Table 22: Teacher years of experience, by sex and by school (and across all schools)

Table 23: Condition of toilets, by school

NUMBER AVAILABLE NUMBER FUNCTIONAL WITH PRIVACY

GIRLS ONLY

BOYS ONLY

FOR ANY

PUPILS

GIRLS ONLY

BOYS ONLY

FOR ANY

PUPILS

GIRLS ONLY

BOYS ONLY

FOR ANY

PUPILS101 Primary 3 3 2 3 3 2 3

102 Primary 2 1 2 1 2 1

103 Primary 2 2 2 2 2 2

104 Primary 3 3 3

105 Primary 3 3 3

106 Primary 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1107 Primary 1 1 1 1

108 Primary 1 1 7 1 1

109 Primary 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 1110 Primary 4 2 4 2 4 2

111 Primary 6 2 6 2 6 2

112 Primary 1 1 1 1 1 1

113 Primary no data no data no data no data no data no data no data no data no data114 Primary 2 3 1 2 1

115 Primary 7 4 2 7 4 2 7 4 2116 Primary 1 1117 School for the

deaf3 3 2 3 3 2

Table 24: Existence of written policy/procedures on violence against girls, by school

SCHOOL Written policy available A copy available101 Primary no specifi c policy no copy102 Primary no specifi c policy no copy103 Primary no data no data104 Primary no written procedures no copy105 Primary no written procedures no data106 Primary no written procedures no copy107 Primary yes no data108 Primary no specifi c policy no data

109 Primary no specifi c policy no copy110 Primary no written procedures no data111 Primary yes yes112 Primary no written procedures no copy113 Primary no data no data114 Primary no written procedures no data115 Primary no data no data116 Primary no written procedures no data117 School for the deaf no specifi c policy no copy

V. ViolenceTable 25: Percentages of girls and boys reporting witnessing physical violence, by type of violence

Type of Violencemale female

N % N %

Beating 130 90.2% 276 82.1%

Grabbing 73 50.7% 193 57.4%

Weapon 72 50%% 129 38.4%

Whip 105 72.9% 230 68.5%

Kneel 82 56.9% 175 52.1%

Other 8 5.6% 7 2.1%

Beating: male female

Age band N % N %8-10 34 68.0 69 68.311-13 38 76.0 76 53.914-17 26 60.5 49 55.1

TOTAL 101 69.2 197 59.0Grabbing male female

Age band N % N %8-10 20 40.0 42 41.6

11-13 16 32.0 54 38.314-17 8 18.6 25 28.1

TOTAL 47 32.2 121 36.2Weapon male female

Age band N % N %8-10 14 28.0 27 26.7

11-13 16 32.0 53 37.614-17 14 32.6 19 21.3

TOTAL 47 32.2 99 29.6

Whipping male female

Age band N % N %8-10 42 84.0 92 91.111-13 46 92.0 109 77.314-17 34 79.1 71 79.8

TOTAL 124 84.9 274 82.0Kneeling male female

Age band N % N %8-10 13 26.0 26 26.011-13 16 32.0 48 34.014-17 9 20.9 25 28.1

TOTAL 40 27.4 100 30.0

Table 26: Patterns of physical violence experienced by age and gender

Peep: male female Total

Age band N % N % N %8-10 6 11.5% 25 24.3% 31 20.0%11-13 7 14.0% 33 23.2% 40 20.8%14-17 5 11.9% 15 16.5% 20 15.0%

TOTAL 18 12.5% 73 21.7% 91 19.0%

Touching: male female Total

Age band N % N % N %8-10 13 25.0% 16 15.5% 29 18.7%

11-13 7 14.0% 37 26.1% 44 22.9%14-17 7 16.7% 30 33.0% 37 27.8%

TOTAL 27 18.8% 83 24.7% 110 22.9%

Comments: male female Total

Age band N % N % N %8-10 11 21.2% 7 6.8% 18 11.6%

11-13 12 24.0% 29 20.4% 41 21.4%14-17 5 11.9% 31 34.1% 36 27.1%

TOTAL 28 19.4% 67 19.9% 95 19.8%

Forced sex: male female Total

Age band N % N % N %8-10 2 3.8% 8 7.8% 10 6.5%11-13 1 2.0% 16 11.3% 17 8.9%14-17 1 2.4% 9 9.9% 10 7.5%

TOTAL 4 2.8% 33 9.8% 37 7.7% Sex for goods: male female Total

Age band N % N % N %8-10 2 3.8% 2 1.9% 4 2.6%11-13 4 8.0% 19 13.4% 23 12.0%14-17 2 4.8% 11 12.1% 13 9.8%

TOTAL 8 5.6% 32 9.5% 40 8.3%

Table 27: Patterns of sexual violence experienced by age and gender

131

Table 28: Location of violence for each type of sexual violence reported by girls and boys*

Schooltotal

Schoolcompound



In andaroundtoilets


Teachers’houses

Peep Male 42.1 5.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 52.6 0.0 19Female 38.9 4.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 56.9 0.0 72

Touching Male 51.7 3.4 37.9 17.2 20.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.4 3.4 29Female 33.3 4.9 51.8 35.8 16.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 9.9 81

Comment Male 37.9 6.9 55.1 20.7 24.1 10.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 29Female 45.5 6.1 45.4 30.3 12.1 3.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 66

ForcedSex

Male 80.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 20.0 5

Female 43.8 6.2 18.8 9.4 9.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.1 28.1 32Sex forgoods

Male 87.5 12.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 8

Female 53.1 6.2 37.6 18.8 18.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.1 0.0 32

In school % TotalN

Type ofviolence


To/fromschool%

Other%

Notanswered %

*For girls and boys who have experienced each type of violence, location of most recent incident (percentage)


Table 29: Perpetrator of each type of sexual violence reported by girls and boys*

Peeping Touching Comments Forced Sex Sex for goods M F M F M F M F M F

Fellow pupil (female) 63.2 29.2 20.7 33.3 39.3 36.4 0.0 34.4 75.0 68.8

Fellow pupil (male) 21.1 26.4 27.6 28.4 25.0 27.3 20.0 9.4 0.0 3.1

Teacher (f) 0.0 5.6 13.8 3.7 7.1 7.6 0.0 3.1 0.0 3.1

Teacher (m) 5.3 22.2 6.9 17.3 14.3 4.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Family member (f) 0.0 2.8 6.9 2.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.1 0.0 0.0

Family member (m) 5.3 12.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Girlfriend 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0.0

Boyfriend 0.0 0.0 3.4 1.2 0.0 12.1 0.0 3.1 0.0 3.1

Community member (f) 5.3 0.0 3.4 1.2 14.3 3.0 20.0 9.4 0.0 3.1

Community member (m) 0.0 0.0 10.3 1.2 0.0 6.1 40.0 6.2 25.0 12.5

Other 0.0 0.0 3.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.1

Not answered 0.0 1.4 3.4 9.9 0.0 3.0 20.0 31.2 0.0 3.1

N total 19 72 29 81 28 66 5 32 8 32

*For girls and boys who have experienced each type of violence, perpetrator of most recent incident (percentage)

133

Table 30: Percentages of girls and boys reporting personal experience of psychological violence, by type

Insults: male female

Age band N % N %

8-10 17 34.0 40 39.6

11-13 18 26.0 67 47.5

14-17 20 46.5 43 48.3

TOTAL 58 39.7 152 45.5

Threats: male female

Age band N % N %

8-10 10 20.0 21 20.8

11-13 13 26.0 38 27.0

14-17 12 27.9 24 27.0

TOTAL 36 24.7 84 25.1

Letters: male female

Age band N % N %

8-10 1 2.0 7 6.9

11-13 3 6.0 20 14.2

14-17 3 7.0 23 25.8

TOTAL 9 6.2 51 15.3


Table 31: Result of action taken against physical violence

Result of action Beating Grabbing Weapon Whipping Kneeling

I Don’t know/don’t remember 3.0% 6.5% 3.0% 5.5% 5.0%

Nothing 58.7% 43.8% 60.0% 70.9% 29.8%

It was Reported to family member 9.7% 8.9% 42.0% 24.7% 47.0%

It was Reported to community leader 0.7% 2.4% 1.0% 0.7% 2.0%

It was Reported to school management 0.7% 3.3% 2.0% 0.4% 2.0%

It was Reported to DEO 0.0% 1.6% 2.0% 0.4% 1.0%

It was Reported to police 2.6% 1.6% 4.0% 0.4% 1.0%

I was punished by family 1.9% 2.4% 1.0% 0.0% 1.0%

I was punished by school 2.2% 2.4% 2.0% 0.0% 1.0%The person was angry that I told and threatened/beat/punished me 2.2% 3.3% 1.0% 0.0% 1.0%

The pupil was punished by the school. 16.4% 10.6% 9.0% 0.7% 1.0%

The teacher transferred/left the school. 0.4% 1.6% 2.0% 0.7% 1.0%

The person was contacted by police 0.4% 1.6% 2.0% 0.0% 1.0%The person was disciplined by community leaders 1.9% 2.4% 3.0% 1.1% 1.0%

I was taken to the clinic 0.4% 1.6% 2.0% 0.0% 1.0%

I received care/support/counselling 1.5% 2.4% 2.0% 0.0% 1.0%

135

Table 32: Result of actions taken against sexual violence

Results Peep Touch Comments Forced Sex Sex for goods

I don’t know/don’t remember. 8.3% 2.5% 3.0% 3.1% 6.2%

Nothing happens 19.4% 19.8% 31.8% 9.4% 15.6%

Reported to family member 19.4% 29.6% 33.3% 25% 25%

It was Reported to community leader 0.% 2.5% 3.0% 6.2% 6.2%

It was Reported to school management 2.8% 1.2% 0.0% 0.0% 37.5%

It was Reported to DEO 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 12.5%

It was Reported to police 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 3.0%

I was punished by family 2.8% 3.7% 1.5% 15.6% 3.1%

I was punished by school 1.4% 3.7% 1.5% 0.0% 0.0%

The person was angry that I told and threatened/beat/punished me

0.0% 1.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%

The person was punished by the school. 16.7% 13.6% 4.5% 6.2% 0.0%

The teacher transferred/left school. 23.6% 8.6% 6.1% 0.0% 3.1%

The person was contacted by police 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 3.1%

The person was disciplined by community leaders

0.0% 0.0% 3.0% 0.0% 0.0%

I was taken to the clinic 0.0% 0.0% 1.5% 0.0% 3.1%

I received care/support/ counselling 0.0% 0.0% 1.5% 3.1% 3.1%


Table 33:Result of action taken against psychological violence

Results Insult % Threat % Letters %

I don’t know/don’t remember. 1.3% 2.4% 3.9%

Nothing happens 44.1% 39.3% 15.7%

Reported to family member 31.6% 26.2% 56.9%

Reported to community leader 2.0% 7.1% 2.0%

It was reported to school management 0.7% 0.0% 3.9%

It was reported to DEO 0.0% 1.2% 0.0%

It was reported to police 0.0% 1.2% 2.0%

I was punished by family 0.7% 0.0% 0.0%

I was punished by school 0.7% 1.2% 0.0%

The person was angry that I told and threatened/beat/punished me 2.0% 0.0% 0.0%

The person was punished by the school. 2.0% 3.6% 3.9%

The teacher transferred/left school. 3.9% 6.0% 0.0%

The person was contacted by police 0.0% 0.0% 2.0%

The person was disciplined by community leaders 0.7% 3.6% 0.0%

I was taken to the clinic 0.0% 1.2% 0.0%

I received care/support/counselling 0.0% 0.0% 2.0%

Date post:	16-Apr-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	4 times
Download:	0 times

The Status of Girls’ Education and Violence Coast Province ... · The Status of Girls’...

Documents