Essential GBV Services and Prevention Project in Malawi

World Education's Bantwana Initiative complemented EngenderHealth’s Essential GBV Services and Prevention program by focusing on school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) prevention through a multi-sectoral approach using a comprehensive framework that worked at the individual, household, school, and community levels.

At the individual level, the program worked to improve girl’s (and boys) self-esteem and sense of self-worth, as well as their knowledge of the manifestations of SRGBV, and equipped them with the life skills to respond to and report abuses. While WEI/Bantwana recognizes that violence is a gendered problem, the team worked with boys both to create a common understanding of their role in the efforts to curb GBV and to foster a reduction of violence as they themselves experience it.

At the household level, the program fostered a better understanding among caregivers of gender disparities, increased caregiver knowledge of GBV prevention and response, and improved caregiver attitudes about girls education. It also improved household economic resilience and caregivers’ ability to meet education expenses.

At the school level, the program leveraged Mother Groups, School Management Boards, Parent-Teacher Associations, and other existing school structures to raise awareness and improve attitudes about the unacceptability of SRGBV in the school setting while strengthening prevention and response mechanisms. Mother groups and students organized in Protect Our Youth clubs are also encouraged to carry out sensitization campaigns outside of the school setting, reaching the community as a whole.

As WEI/Bantwana promotes help-seeking behavior with adolescents, it encouraged victimized youth to access the response mechanisms that EngenderHealth worked to strengthen at the local and national level, thus contributing to ensuring a comprehensive model of prevention and response.