| dc.description.abstract | The general objective of this was to .assess the forms of violence against public primary schools girls in Kieni East district To achieve its objective the study adopted a descriptive research design. The study sample size consisted of face to face o:al interviews for 100 girls and 20 head teachers from each of the participating 20 public primary school in the district In addition, there were 5 focus groups discussion consisting of 9 girls were conducted. All the targeted head teachers (20 in number) participated in the study and 90 pupils.
This research found several forms in which violence against girls were done which includes two aspects of sexual harassment, namely unwanted touches and proposals of a sexual nature; sexual abuse where physical acts of a sexual nature or defilement had taken place; teacher-school girl relationships; physically beaten,teases, use of abusive language and harassment.
The discussion also established that peers boys, family and relatives, teachers, and people within community III that order were people responsible for perpetrating violence against girls III public primary schools. Participants further noted that some girls especially, orphans, girls living with relatives, early maturing girls 'big bodied' girl were more vulnerable to abuse/ violation than girls from stable families. It was observed that the frequency of violation was not clear during discussion but it was observed that at least two cases of violation of rights either in school, community or at home was reported in a week.
Cases of dropping out of school cases were reported during discussion. Respondents noted that some girls had dropped out of school as results of violence against girls. It was noted that some of the girls that had dropped out of school because of stigma associated with violence on girls. Older girls who may have been survivors of violence either within or without school were more likely to drop out schools. Other consequences of violence against girls like early pregnancies posed a major threat to 'drop out of school. In improving health response to victims, there is need for establishment and improvement of gender recovery units/support centre to follow-up medical care for survivors and efforts to improve the capacity of health-care workers to respond to survivors of violence in their own communities. It is important to continue to build connections among survivors of violence and other health issues, especially HIV/AIDS.
There is need to build awareness among people in positions of authority. Young people should be provided with the education, practical skills and support to manage personal relationships so that they can better communicate what is taking place in relationships and better advocate that their rights be respected. Members of the police need additional training on how to handle gender-based violence cases and particularly on how to investigate these cases properly. The evidence presented in this research confirms that violence against girls in public primary schools exists. The effect of violence against girls on the personal development of the victims is adverse. For girls who may conceive, it almost spells an end to their formal education acquisition, However, the perpetrators seem to get off very lightly. The analysis of factors causing it shows that it is rooted in the economic and socio-culturalcontexts. | en_US |
