Video: girls say no to sexual violence at schools

A moving new film tells of the sexual violence and fear that girls in many countries face just for going to school.

Six girls in six countries – who were all born in 2000 – appear in the video made by the charity Plan International as part of its “Millennium Children” series.

They reveal that they are approached or sexually taunted by boys and men as they walk to school. They face being molested or raped when they leave their classroom to go to the toilet. And some teachers even offer good grades to girls in return for sex.

Gender-based violence at school is wrecking the education of many girls across the world – making them too afraid to go to school. One girl said: “I don't go to school anymore. I'm scared to go because I was sexually assaulted there.”

But another said: “I love education. This bad experience cannot stop me from going to school.”

The film was produced and, at times, filmed by young people as part of Plan's youth engagement project “Global Voice for Change”. The organisation  is calling for the issue of gender-based violence in schools to be highlighted in the Sustainable Development Goals, which are set to replace the Millennium Development Goals this year.