Education

These guidelines are part of the Essential Services Package (ESP) in the Caribbean, which works to provide all women and girls who have experienced gender-based violence (GBV) with greater access to a set of essential quality and coordinated multi-sectoral services. 

These standards provide guidance for the design, implementation and review of response services for women and girls subject to all forms of GBV for the education sector. 

The standards have been developed specifically for the Caribbean countries, as part of the European Union (EU)–United Nations Spotlight Initiative and supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) along with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat.

The persistent problem of gender-based violence (GBV) in contemporary Caribbean societies is mainly due to deep-rooted patriarchal structures that play a major role in perpetuating violence against women and girls (VAWG) and violence against children (VAC). 

Manifestations of family violence and corporal punishment also frequently overlap in the same domestic circles.

Family violence is shaped, justified and maintained based on rigid gender norms and clear hierarchical values based on sex and age, among other factors. It includes physical, social, sexual, economic and  psychological/emotional abuse, as well as acts of aggression within relationships with those considered to be family members or akin to family.

This paper discusses the application of the whole-of-education approach (WOEA) to prevent VAWG and VAC in the Caribbean region.

The Spotlight Caribbean Regional Programme supported the development of guidelines for the education sector to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls (VAWG) and violence against children (VAC). 

The key guidance documents produced to bolster efforts in and through the education sector are:

1. Essential services for education sector response to violence against women and girls (VAWG), and violence against children (VAC) in the Caribbean: Core elements and quality guidelines,

2. Whole of education approach to prevent and respond to VAWG and VAC: Core elements and quality guidelines and summary.

This overview presents the range of supplementary tools that are available for education staff and policy makers at national, district and school level to adapt and use for advocacy and awareness raising within their contexts.

This Checklist is meant to aid the development of an action plan for the implementation of the Education Essential Services and identify areas of coordination between key stakeholders focused on essential services for the education sector. It provides general guidance and is not an exhaustive list.

The purpose of the service quality assessment exercise is to assess the quality of existing response services within a school and to help continuous service quality improvement using a selected set of standards.

This guideline is oriented to each of the key stakeholders at the local level (parents, students aged 5-11 years, students aged 12-18 years, early childhood, primary and secondary school teachers, school principals and leaders, community members and religious leaders). Its content refers to the strategies for the Whole of Education Approach and the Essential Service Package to address violence against women and girls (VAWG)/violence against children (VAC) in the education sector, and includes a selection of products, activities, global references and key themes that are relevant for each of those stakeholders, so that they can start playing their part in preventing and responding to VAWG and VAC.

This guideline provides a reference list of interventions that were identified during the development of the strategies for the Whole of Education Approach and the Essential Service Package to address violence against women and girls and violence against children (VAWG/VAC) in the education sector.

The purpose of this guide is to enable education officials, practitioners, and staff to design and deliver a training or information session on the guidelines and tools that are part of this package. The guide presents an agenda for a one-day training/information session, a PowerPoint presentation and sample scenarios which can be adapted based on needs and audience.

The objective of this PowerPoint presentation is  to develop an understanding of education prevention and response strategies to address violence against women and girls (VAWG)/violence against children (VAC), outlined in the Whole of Education Approach (WOEA) and Essential Services Package (ESP) Education guidelines; to improve clarity about the role of the education sector in prevention and response to VAWG/VAC, and develop advocacy ideas to share about the WOEA and ESP strategies with their colleagues.

Eight cards to better understand terms related to gender-based violence.

This set is composed of three PDFs related to the definitions, principles and services, part of the Essential Services for the education sector.

This set of posters includes four posters aimed at the general public, teachers, students and parents.

These banners for social media are four, aimed at the general public, teachers, students and parents.