Knowledge hub

Violence in and around schools undermines children’s safety, learning, and well-being. It weakens trust in education systems and pushes the most marginalized learners out of classrooms that should protect and empower them. Yet, violence is not inevitable. The evidence is clear, and proven approaches exist to prevent, reduce, and respond to it.This brief sets out key policy recommendations on ending violence against children through safe and enabling schools, which were shaped by discussions at the 2025 ISPCAN Rise Up Policy Forum.The ISPCAN Rise Up Policy Forum is a global initiative to catalyze progress in child protection through a public health and system strengthening approach.

These reports review national progress against the benchmarks of the Safe to Learn Call to Action.National benchmarking assessments are developed based on desk reviews of national policies, plans and partner programme documents. Progress against each benchmark is then rated by the government, in coordination with the UNICEF country office. The assessment can be used by stakeholders to identify priorities for future action and to strengthen national efforts to create safe and enabling learning environments for all children.

These reports review national progress against the benchmarks of the Safe to Learn Call to Action.National benchmarking assessments are developed based on desk reviews of national policies, plans and partner programme documents. Progress against each benchmark is then rated by the government, in coordination with the UNICEF country office. The assessment can be used by stakeholders to identify priorities for future action and to strengthen national efforts to create safe and enabling learning environments for all children.

Many countries do not regularly collect or report data on violence in and around schools, yet this is essential for understanding school-related violence – who is affected, where risks are highest, and which policies and programmes actually work. Yet despite rising global attention, major gaps remain., Most global datasets are outdated or incomplete., Few countries collect data on sexual violence by school staff, corporal punishment, or violence during children’s school journey. Only 17 per cent have data on sexual violence by school personnel , and no major international survey includes data on violence during travel to and from school., Trend data is rare., Only about one-third of countries have repeated the same survey to track progress over time – and most of this covers only peer bullying. , Experiences of the most at-risk children, , including children with disabilities , LGBTQI+ learners, young children, and those in humanitarian settings are often missing or under-documented . Stronger data systems are critical for governments to design effective prevention and response mechanisms, allocate resources, and monitor progress., Better data means better, more informed decisions – that can help build safer schools for every child., Where can you find data and evidence?, A number of global and national datasets provide estimates of violence experienced by children, including in and around educational settings Accordion, Databases on Violent Discipline (SDG 16.2.1) and Sexual Violence (SDG 16.2.3), UNICEF is responsible for supporting the monitoring of, SDG 16.2.1, and, SDG 16.2.3, . These databases provide global estimates on children aged 1–14 subjected to violent discipline—physical and psychological—by caregivers. Data shows that 1.6 billion children experience violence discipline monthly, with prevalence details across 98 countries. Global figures are also provided on childhood sexual violence, with breakdowns by…, International Classification of Violence Against Children, The, International Classification of Violence Against Children (ICVAC), , launched by UNICEF, provides operational definitions to track all forms of child violence—interpersonal, collective, during peace or conflict—and enables globally comparable data collection. The ICVAC framework includes standardized indicators for violence in schools—such as physical (corporal punishment), emotional (bullying), and sexual…, Center for Global Development School-Related Violence Data Hub, A comprehensive cross-country compilation of school-related violence data. The, Center for Global Development School-Related Violence Data Hub, draws on, nine major international surveys, covering, 92 low- and middle-income countries, , and provides country profiles on bullying, corporal punishment, teacher-perpetrated violence, sexual violence, and legal frameworks, as well as key data gaps and comparability issues. , Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS), Nationally representative household surveys implemented by national governments, with technical support from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and global coordination through the Together for Girls partnership. The, Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS), collect detailed, age- and sex-disaggregated data on physical, emotional, and sexual violence, including where violence occurs and how it affects schooling and well-being. , Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS), The, Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS), is a WHO survey administered in schools to students aged, 13-17 years, , the GSHS includes modules on, bullying, physical attacks, physical fights, , and, school safety, , offering comparative data across dozens of countries. It focuses primarily on, peer-to-peer violence, and adolescent health-related behaviours. , End Corporal Punishment – legal status and global estimates, A, global database, that tracks the, legal status of corporal punishment, across all settings, including schools, homes, and care institutions. The initiative also publishes global estimates, including the most recent figure showing that, 793 million school-age children live in countries where corporal punishment at school remains lawful, .

This PBL brief consolidates learning from grantee and consortium partners of the What Works II programme on integrating violence against children (VAC) and gender-based violence (GBV) prevention into national education systems. Through a process of interviews and validation workshops, representatives from each organization identified five lessons…, Published date:, 2025, Language(s):, English

The present report is submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to the Council resolutions 8/4 and 53/7. The Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Farida Shaheed, addresses the “right to be safe in education”, as part of the right to education.  The Special Rapporteur proposes to define the right to be safe in education as the right…, Publication date:, 16 June 2025, Language(s):, Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish

This report highlights the progress of the Global Partnership for Education and Safe to Learn Technical Assistance Initiative on Safe Learning since its beginning in April 2024.In this first phase, the initiative has supported two pilot countries: Nepal and Sierra Leone.

Sudan has undertaken law reform to prohibit corporal punishment in schools, daycares and penal institutions – including basic and secondary schools, Quranic schools, industrial education centres, agricultural schools, adult education and special needs schools. This reform comes after the Ministry of Education signed a new regulation in November of…, Published date:, Last updated January 2025, Language(s):, English

These briefs are part of a series about social and behaviour change in education. It is meant to make you think out of the box, reflect, ponder, and get inspired about the potential that social and behaviour change in education presents to ensure every child can learn in a safe and enabling environment. Rather than being a guidance, the briefs provide a snapshot of programmatic thinking and case examples, as well as a collection of resources, which you can use to continue exploring and unleashing the potential of social and behaviour change in education.SBC in Education: Ending violence in, around and through schoolsSchools and education systems are central to ending violence against children in all settings. The education sector has a key role to play in addressing harmful social and gender norms, behaviors, stereotypes, and unequal gender and power dynamics that may be reproduced in schools and education systems and communities beyond. This brief provides case examples on how Call to Action 3 on shifting social and gender norms and promoting behavior change and the application of a whole of school approach, can advance violence prevention and response in, around, and through schools.SBC in Education: Learning in education in emergenciesIn communities with large numbers of displaced people, adults and children alike often exhibit symptoms of traumatic stress. Violence against children – and between children – may be more prevalent due to fear, ongoing traumatization, and insufficient access to mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS). This knowledge brief seeks to showcase how we can better address this through a coherent social and behaviour change approach building on cross-sectoral interventions among organizational partners in support of affected children, families, and educators in emergencies. It provides two case examples of emerging work in Egypt and the Central African Republic (CAR) on applying social and behaviour change strategies to advance education in emergencies and protracted crises.SBC in Education: Teaching and leadingTeachers are key for the student learning experience. This knowledge brief offers an illustration of innovative, emerging initiatives to improve teacher quality by supporting teachers and changing teacher behaviors. It offers insights to how social and behavior change can advance transformative teaching and learning. The case illustrations offer insights into the ways that engaging teachers in values deliberation can address conscious and unconscious biases, and innovative training can shift teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, mindsets, expectations, and behaviours.SBC in Education: Advancing early childhood development (ECD)This knowledge brief illustrates how using social and behaviour change approaches can advance ECD and improve foundational learning. The brief offers innovative and proven insights on how to support young children to develop cognitive, emotional, and psychosocial skills that are essential for well-being and learning achievement in the early childhood and primary years by using an evidence-based approach to learning through play. The examples show interventions that apply across the socio-ecological framework, and effectively integrates the individual, caregiver, community, and institutional/teacher level support for early learning. Pre-primary education systems also hold an immense potential to tackle gender inequalities and address harmful social and gender norms and stereotypes before they are absorbed by the youngest learners – hence creating the grounds for changing deeply rooted social systems that uphold inequalities.

To solve a problem, we must first understand it. The Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS) are nationally representative household surveys of adolescents and young people (ages 13 to 24) that generate a wide range of groundbreaking information about violence in childhood and young adulthood.  To date, 26 VACS surveys have been…, Published date:, various, Language(s):, English

Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) 4, 5 and 16 have set important targets to make schools safe, inclusive and non-violent environments. With less than six years to the 2030 deadline, there is still significant work remaining to achieve these goals, given violence in and around schools still manifests within every society, globally. Extensive evidence shows that violence in and around schools can have significant impacts on educational outcomes, both directly and indirectly.October 2024

This brief has been developed to support conversations on addressing violence in and through education. It focuses specifically on violence against children in and around schools, while fully recognizing that different forms of violence are interconnected, and occur in multiple settings including homes, communities, and online. The brief provides…, Publication date:, 24 January 2024, Language(s):, English