We are not only holding stakeholders accountable to implement the Sexual Violence Reporting and Management Framework for Schools in the Federal Capital Territory, we are contributing to its implementation. Teenage Network in partnership with the African Women Development Fund (AWDF) trained gender officers across seventy-seven (77) senior secondary schools in the FCT.
Gender Officers are the first responders for cases of school related sexual violence in the FCT. Sadly, about 70% of them have never received any form of training on the management of school-related sexual violence, particularly the ones in rural community schools. You can’t pour from an empty cup! This begs the question, how can gender officers respond appropriately to cases of school-related sexual violence, if they are not trained?
How can they meet the socioemotional needs of learners, if don’t understand what constitute sexual violence and the required survivor centred approaches? Oftentimes, training opportunities are limited to urban school even though studies have shown that learners in rural communities are more vulnerable. In our own case, we left no stone untouched, engaging the hard–to–reachcommunity schools in the FCT.
The training was held in two batches to accommodate the gender officers from the six area councils in the FCT. The first batch of training took place at the government secondary school Garki, accommodating gender officers from the Abuja Municipal Area and Bwari Area Council while the second batch which held in Government Secondary School Hajj-camp accommodated gender officers from senior secondary schools in Kuje, Gwagwalada, Kwali and Abaji Area Councils.
The training was hands-on with the gender officers role playing survivor interviews and designing their action plans. Additionally, the gender officers highlighted the challenges they are often faced with the management of cases of school-related sexual violence and how the framework has helped addressed the challenges. The training touched on sensitive topics such as trauma-informed counselling, survivor centered approaches and the reporting procedures as stated in the sexual violence reporting and management framework for schools in the FCT.
A repeated mantra throughout the training was; survivor’s well-being and safety must be prioritized in every decision making process. The training emphasized psycho-social support and the importance of never re-traumatising the child through insensitive questioning or blame.
The impact of this training will ripple out far beyond that room. Each of the Gender Officers returned to their school as an agent of change. They are now the guardians of safety, the bearers of hope, and the first line of defence for thousands of students in the FCT. They are the embodiment of a collective promise to our learners: ‘You are safe here. You will be heard here and what happens to you matters.’
Click here to support us for the next batch of training for gender officers for junior secondary schools in the FCT.