Mozambique: NGO condemns ‘structural violence’ against school girls

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Mozambique: NGO condemns ‘structural violence’ against school girls

7:11 CAT | 08 Jun 2021

FILE - Illustrative photo. [File photo: Lusa]

The Women’s Observatory, a Mozambican civil society organisation, on Tuesday condemned the structural violence against girls in schools, warning about the growing vulnerability of female pupils to insecurity in the school environment.

“Violence against girls at school is also structural, in the sense that it is not a matter of isolated acts of aggression, but constant violent and discriminatory relations in the institution,” according to a statement issued by the organisation.

The Women’s Observatory expressed concern in a note repudiating a video circulating on social networks in which a pupils trips a female colleague, causing her to apparently faint, at a secondary school in Maputo province, southern Mozambique.

The case took place in May at the 4 de Outubro Secondary School in Ressano Garcia.

“This aggression, which has shocked public opinion, comes in a context that has been prolific in increasingly serious acts of violence against women, girls and children,” the statement said.

Violence within schools, the text continues, reflects the structural discrimination in gender relations in Mozambique, which constantly endanger women’s lives, physical integrity, and emotional well-being.

“From families to communities and public institutions, we have witnessed a macabre procession of rape and sexual harassment, coupled with serious physical and psychological aggression,” the organisation said.

The Women’s Observatory deplores the alleged complicity of the institutions that are supposed to fight and end violence, accusing them of corruption and sponsoring prejudices that perpetuate the devaluation of women.

At school, the document continues, female pupils are subjected to harassment and sexual violence by teachers, school staff and colleagues and conduct such as teasing, constant belittling and the obligation to wear long skirts to protect teachers from temptation.

Also read: Mozambique: Teacher-student sexual harassment in schools keeps targeting girls – Rádio Encontro de Nampula

The Women’s Observatory also points out the absence of hygiene conditions for girls due to the alleged institutional neglect of women’s needs.

The statement calls for the dissemination and implementation of the Multisectoral Mechanism for the Prevention, Reporting, Referral and Response to Violence against Children in Schools, including Assistance to Victims, approved in December 2019 by the Ministry of Education and Human Development.

The Observatory regrets that the girl victim of an assault by her classmate is being re-victimised by some people, blaming her for the violence inflicted on her.

Following the video in which the pupil is assaulted, the alleged aggressor was eventually expelled from the school after an enquiry opened by the school head on the orders of the ministry of education.

Source: Lusa