Protecting and supporting children and women affected by gender-based violence: the role of education in survivor wellbeing

Given the well-documented toll of gender-based violence on the wellbeing of women and girls, schools and universities can be key sites of advocacy and prevention. Peace educators have identified tackling gender-based violence as a priority for the field. Yet, two gaps persist. Firstly, the lived experiences of female survivors outside Europe and North America remain little understood in research. Secondly, the severe structural barriers female survivors face risk being overlooked in overly individualistic conceptualisations of wellbeing that neglect the social context. We argue that both these geographical and conceptual gaps can be addressed by considering voices from the Global South and closely contextualising children and women’s experiences. We thereby utilise qualitative data from South Asia and the Middle East, combining the social-ecological model with Galtung’s framework of direct, structural and cultural violence to contextualise the emotions and experiences of female participants and to flag the role of education and societal structures in perpetuating or tackling gender-based violence. We conclude with an ecological conceptualisation of ‘being-well’, calling for sustainable, context-sensitive action for peace and social change and highlighting the responsibility of education to provide sanctuary to those who seek it.