Impact of gender-responsive and violence-free school environments on primary and lower secondary school children in Cambodia (2021)

Abstract

In many countries, various forms of negative discipline are not considered abusive. It often arises from common practice and taboos dealing with child abuse and gender roles. Knowledge acquisition on acceptable forms of discipline and gender equity among teachers, can lead to changes in attitudes and instruction of teachers through which gender-responsive and violence-free learning environment for students are created. To tackle school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV), an innovative project, Teaching for Improved Gender Equality and Responsiveness (TIGER), was implemented in Cambodia, Battambang province. TIGER took place in grades 4 to 6 of primary education and grades 7 to 9 of lower secondary education in Battambang province. We have set-up a pre-intervention (2018) and post-intervention (2020) study that involves a treatment and comparison group. We were able to collect repeated cross-sectional data on (N=2,333) students. The data are stratified by gender and representative for the participating schools. The empirical method applied in this study corresponds to difference-in-differences in combination with matching analysis. Results indicate small significant transfer effects in primary schools owing to the TIGER project on all three student outcomes: emotional abuse, physical violence, and sexual harassment. The impact of the TIGER project on students from lower secondary schools was limited to reducing sexual harassment.