A Cross-Country Analysis of Baseline Research from Kenya, Ghana and Mozambique

This report presents findings from baseline studies carried out in three districts in Kenya, Ghana and Mozambique for Stop Violence Against Girls in School, a five year project (2008­-2013) led by ActionAid with support from the UK's Big Lottery Fund. The study aimed to provide a baseline with which to measure and evaluate change over the course of the project, as well as building in depth knowledge of gender, violence and education in the project areas in order to inform decision making about community intervention, advocacy and research priorities in the project, and contributing to the international literature on gender violence in schools. The research questions are:

1. What are the constraints upon and opportunities for combating gender violence, discrimination and inequalities within legislative and policy frameworks and their implementation, at national, state and local community level?
2. What patterns of violence do girls experience in schools, homes and communities?
3. What are the gendered patterns of enrollment, completion and achievement in the project schools?
4. What mechanisms are there for girls to contest violence, to express their perspectives and to influence decisions about matters that concern them?

Data was collected in 2009 in 13 primary schools and communities in Ghana, 16 in Kenya and 15 in Mozambique. A total of 2757 respondents participated in the baseline study, including girls and boys, teachers and head teachers, parents, SMC members, community leaders and women's group leaders, District Education Officers, District Health Officers and Police. The studies combined quantitative and qualitative methods, and a desk review of the legal and policy frameworks. The report paints at best an uneven picture, and frequently a bleak picture of violence and inequalities in girls' lives and communities. The conclusion summarizes cross-cutting issues across the three project sites, and discusses the implications of variations in the findings between the sites in relation to mismatches between discourse and practice, the effects of modernity on gender and violence, and the building of effective partnerships.