The role of gender-responsive pedagogy to tackle violence against and between children in Cambodian schools

The Teaching for Improved Gender Equality and Responsiveness (TIGER) programme aims to tackle gender-based violence (GBV), and more specifically school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV), in Cambodia, by creating gender-responsive schools that provide a safe and learner-friendly school environment. This paper presents the results of a mixed-methods baseline study examining the need for such a programme in Cambodia. We find that overall incidence rates of different forms of violence against and between children in the Cambodian school context are high for both sexes. School principals and teachers are not well equipped to respond to (SR)GBV. This is the result of a lack of internal regulations on that matter within schools. Consequently, teachers continue to use corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure. Our findings call for a whole-school and community-based approach to eradicate (SR)GBV and to transform the norms and beliefs that sustain it. These elements are integrated into the TIGER-programme.status: Published onlin