Schools told to submit report on sexual violence

KATHMANDU, June 18: Department of Education has ordered schools to find out if their students had suffered any kind of sexual violence while they stayed in the open after earthquake.

Issuing a directive to District Education Offices (DEO), the department has sought a detailed report on the types of violence committed against children in the aftermath of the disaster.The department suspects a large number of children faced sexual violence during the period but many have not spoken about it out of fear.

"As they spent several nights in the open, we suspect that many children, especially girls, may have suffered sexual abuse. It's time to deal with their problem now," the directive to the district-based offices reads.

The Gender Focal Units at schools are required to interact with the children and prepare a report based on the interaction. The units have also been asked to counsel the students and adopt measures to help raise the awareness level among the school goers.

As of now, no step has been taken to study the cases of sexual violence suffered by school going children. In the beginning of this academic year in mid-April, the government had made it mandatory for schools to institute gender forum at schools as a way to protect school children from sexual and gender-based violence.

The government is planning to strengthen the gender unit by encouraging participation and making it more informative.

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