Behind the numbers: Ending school violence and bullying UNESCO Education Sector The Global Education 2030 Agenda Education is UNESCO’s top priority because it is UNESCO, as the United Nations’ specialized a basic human right and the foundation on which agency for education, is entrusted to lead and to build peace and drive sustainable development. coordinate the Education 2030 Agenda, which is UNESCO is the United Nations’ specialized agency part of a global movement to eradicate poverty for education and the Education Sector provides through 17 Sustainable Development Goals by global and regional leadership in education, 2030. Education, essential to achieve all of these strengthens national education systems and goals, has its own dedicated Goal 4, which aims to responds to contemporary global challenges “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education through education with a special focus on and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” gender equality and Africa. The Education 2030 Framework for Action provides guidance for the implementation of this ambitious goal and commitments. Education Sector United Nations (GXFDWLRQDO6FLHQWL¿FDQG Cultural Organization Published in 2019 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 7, place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 SP, France © UNESCO 2019 ISBN 978-92-3-XXXXXX-X This publication is available in Open Access under the Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC-BY-SA 3.0 IGO) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/). By using the content of this publication, the users accept to be bound by the terms of use of the UNESCO Open Access Repository (http://www.unesco. org/open-access/terms-use-ccbysa-en). The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The ideas and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors; they are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. Cover photo credit: Pikul Noorod/Shutterstock.com Graphic design: Ana C. Martin Printed by UNESCO Printed in France Behind the numbers: Putting an end to school violence and bullying Behind the numbers: Ending school violence and bullying 1 Foreword School-related violence in all its forms is an infringement of children’s and adolescents’ rights to education and to health and well-being. No country can achieve inclusive and equitable quality education for all if learners experience violence and bullying in school. This UNESCO publication provides an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of global and regional prevalence and trends related to school-related violence and examines the nature and impact of school violence and bullying. It reviews national responses, focusing on countries that have seen positive trends in prevalence and identifies factors that have contributed to an effective response to school violence and bullying. Addressing school violence and bullying is essential in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 4, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, and SDG 16, which aims to promote peaceful and inclusive societies. Monitoring progress in this regard requires accurate data on prevalence and trends in school violence and bullying, and on how effectively the education sector is responding to it. This publication aims to contribute to monitoring progress towards the achievement of safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments. School violence and bullying can be devastating for the victims. The consequences include children and youth finding it difficult to concentrate in class, missing classes, avoiding school activities, playing truant or dropping out of school altogether. This has an adverse impact on academic achievement and future education and employment prospects. An atmosphere of anxiety, fear and insecurity is incompatible with learning and unsafe learning environments can, therefore, undermine the quality of education for all learners. This publication builds on previous UNESCO work on school violence and bullying including publication of the School Violence and Bullying: Global Status Report (UNESCO, 2017), and we trust that it will be useful to everyone who has an interest in preventing and addressing school violence and bullying. We also hope that it will make an important contribution to the Safe to Learn Campaign, which aims to end all violence in schools by 2024, by raising awareness and catalyzing action to eliminate school violence and bullying. Stefania Giannini Assistant Director-General for Education Acknowledgements This report was developed under the leadership of Soo-Hyang Choi, Director of UNESCO’s Education Sector's Division for Peace and Sustainable Development. Preparation of the report was coordinated by Christophe Cornu, with the support of Yongfeng Liu, and thanks are also due to the following colleagues at UNESCO for their valuable review and comments: Jenelle Babb, Chris Castle, Cara Delmas and Joanna Herat; and Kathy Attawell (consultant), who wrote the text. Laura Kann (formerly at the United States (US) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) conducted the secondary analysis of the data on school violence and bullying collected through the Global Student Health Survey. Frank Elgar (McGill University, Canada) and Petr Badura (University of Groningen, Netherlands and Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic) conducted the secondary analysis of the data collected through the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. Edinburgh Innovations Ltd. (University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom) synthesised the quantitative data and analytical findings from the secondary data analyses and other available sources, and conducted qualitative country case studies, with research work led by Deborah Fry, supported by Eilidh Moir, Chad Hemady, Tabitha Casey, Charles Holton, Karina Padilla Malca, Sujin Yoon, Zain Kurdi, Elvira Caceres Ruiz, Dana Dabbous and Stuart Elliott. Charlotte Pram Nielsen (United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)) supervised the case study on Côte d’Ivoire conducted by Marie Devers (consultant). We acknowledge the substantial inputs of key informants on national education sector responses to school violence and bullying in selected countries, who included the following: • Eswatini: Zandile Masangane (Ministry of Health), Bethusile Mahlalela and Phumzile Ncube (Ministry of Education and Training), Mpendulo Masuku (Deputy Prime Minister’s Office), Edwin Simelane (UNESCO Eswatini), Sakhile Dlamini (World Vision, Eswatini), Thabo Magagula (Save the Children), Lindiwe Mhlanga and Gcinaphi Ndlovu (Swaziland Action Groups Against Abuse); • Italy: Giovanni Vespoli (Ministry of Education, University and Research), Simona Caravita (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart), Erika Bernacchi and Marco Zelano (UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti) and Ersilia Menesini (University of Florence); • Jamaica: Fern M. McFarlane (Ministry of Education), Rebecca Tortello (UNICEF Jamaica), Maureen Samms-Vaughan (University of the West Indies) and Cirenia Chavez (UNICEF Office of Research-Innocenti); • Lebanon: Fadi el Hage (Saint Joseph University, Beirut), Zeena Zakharia (UMass Boston), Salem Dib (United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Education Programme Lebanon), Nadine Said (Education Department) and Miled Abou Jaoude (Save the Children International); • Netherlands: Michael Hoppe (Ministry of Education, Culture and Science), G.E. Huitsing (University of Groningen), Daan Wienke and Patricia Bolwerk (Stop Bullying Now Foundation); • Peru: Fredy Sánchez (Ministry of Education), Rosa Vallejos (Save the Children) and Alfredo Gastelo (Municipality of San Miguel); • Republic of Korea: Hyeyoung Hwang, Misuk Sun and Nayoung Kim (Institute of School Violence Prevention, Ewha Womans University), and Jong Ik Lee and Seung Hye Kim (Foundation for Preventing Youth Violence); • Sweden: Hugo Wester (Ministry of Education) and Jacob Flärdh Aspegren (Friends International Centre against Bullying); • Uganda: Angela Nakafeero (Ministry of Education and Sport) and Dipak Naker (Raising Voices Uganda); • Uruguay: Verónica Massa (Human Rights Directorate - Administración Nacional de Educación Pública) and Juan Carlos Noya (Liceo Alemán, Montevideo). UNESCO also extends a special thank you to the following external reviewers: Marta Santos Pais (Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Violence against Children), Manos Antoninis (Global Education Monitoring Report), Sujata Bordoloi (United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) Secretariat), Patrick Burton (Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention, South Africa), Jane Davies and Stuart Cameron (Global Partnership for Education), James O'Higgins Norman (UNESCO Chair on Tackling Bullying in School and Cyberspace/Irish National Anti-Bullying, Research and Resource Centre, Ireland) and Tae Seob Shin (Institute of School Violence Prevention, Ewha Womans University, Republic of Korea). Table of contents Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... 7 1. Introduction ...........................................................................................................................