School Girls’ Experiences of Gender Based Violence: A Study of Selected Secondary Schools in Kaoma and Luampa Districts of Western Zambia

This study explored school girls’ experiences of gender based violence in selected secondary schools in Luampa and Kaoma districts of western Zambia. The study established the causes and consequences of gender based violence against school girls including factors that compel abused girls to remain silent. A qualitative phenomenological research design was employed in this study. Participants included twenty-eight (28) school girls who had been victims of gender-based violence, four (4) School Administrators, two (2) DEB Officials, and four (4) members of the community, all of whom were purposefully sampled. Data were gathered by semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. The causes were centered on socialization and traditional treatment that girls face in African society. School girls who experienced gender based violence did not report their experiences, for fear of being stigmatized, blamed, retaliated against, and not responded to by school administrators. Those who reported their experiences did not receive appropriate help. Male teachers engaged in sexual relationships with school girls and promised the girls money for food, school fees, and other necessities. Some male teachers reacted, beat and punished the girls who refused their advances. School girls also faced gender based violence from their male classmates who proposed sex to them, touched their breasts or bums, or made sexual comments. Some boys threatened girls who did not submit to their sexual advances and used physical violence. School girls experienced gender based violence by men they encountered as they walked long distances to and from school which negatively affected their education and health. Sexual abuse exposed girls to sexually transmitted diseases, early pregnancy, injury or death from unsafe abortions, depression and anxiety. They also lost concentration on their academic work, transferred to other schools to escape the abuse and dropped out of school because of pregnancy. Lack of policies for responding to reports of gender based violence and blaming girls made it difficult for girls to report their experiences. Male teachers who sexually abused school girls never received stiffer punishment but just transferred to other schools.