Addressing school-related gender-based violence: case study of the girl power programme implemented at Kasiya basic school in Chibombo district of Zambia

My research concerns a schools-based initiative to reduce school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV), namely, the Girl Power Programme (GPP) developed by Plan International through the Girl Power Alliance (GPA). SRGBV affects children in schools in numerous ways, with others dropping out of school completely. My research sought to understand from the participants’ perspectives, experiences, knowledge, their understanding of SRGBV, the forms of SRGBV, the causes and the strategies they perceived to have been effective in addressing SRGBV at Kasiya Basic School in Chibombo, Zambia, through their involvement in the GPP. My study was qualitative and employed a case study approach. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions (FDGs) were used to gain an in-depth understanding of this issue via key informants (n=21) who were connected to this programme at the school under study. The participants were purposively selected due to their direct involvement in the programme. A theoretical framework of poststructuralist feminism and the ecological model was used. The poststructuralist feminist approach provided an understanding of how particular discourses construct meanings of SRGBV among the study participants. The ecological model was used to help understand how SRGBV results from a combination of multiple influences on behaviour and how these factors that put people at risk for or protect them from experiencing or perpetrating violence and the prevention strategies that can be used at each level to address these factors. The chosen theoretical framework provided a useful tool to analyse the research questions. The data were analysed using N-vivo by using thematic analysis. The findings reveal that the definition of SRGBV is socially constructed and thus amenable to multiple interpretations by different people. Thus, a definition of SRGBV is subject to change from one place to another and over time. The study findings further indicated that the common forms of SRGBV were sexual violence, bullying and corporal punishment. Factors which participants believed contributed to SRGBV were culture and power, poverty, peer pressure, lack of reporting, school practices that condone violence, and weak policy enactment and legal enforcement. The study findings also revealed what participants saw to be some effective strategies in addressing SRGBV; the GPP participants identified the girls clubs, whole school approach and community based child protection mechanism (CBCPM). The study has made recommendations to stakeholders on how to address SRGBV.