On August 4, 2022, Inspire conducted a random survey of 911 female Junior High School students (SMP) in Manado City, North Sulawesi. This survey was conducted to find information on gender based violence (GBV) among teenagers during the last 4 (four) months.

This survey was supported by the Manado City Government, the Office of Women’s Empowerment & Child Protection (DP3A). In addition, this survey was assisted by the Central Statistics Agency (BPN) in Manado. The survey was carried out in 10 secondary schools and went well.

Below is a list of junior high schools where the survey was run:

• SMP Alkhairaat, Tikala
• SMP Advent 1, Tikala
• SMP Katolik Pax Christi, Wenang
• SMP Negeri 1, Wenang
• SMP Negeri 10, Mapanget
• SMP Negeri 3, Tuminting
• SMP Negeri 4, Wanea
• SMP Kristen Eben Haezar 2, Wanea
• SMP Kristen Nafiri, Malalayang
• SMP Katolik Santa Theresia, Malalayang

The results obtained from this survey are as follow:

Figure 1. Percentage of Junior High School Students Experiencing Gender-Based Violence at School

Figure 1 shows that 33% of the 911 female students sampled in the study had experienced gender-based violence at school during the last four months; 3% of them experienced violence more than 10 times.

Figure 2. Percentage of Students Experiencing Gender-Based Violence by Type of School

We conducted the survey in both public and private schools; Figure 2 shows that the percentage of students experiencing gender-based violence in private schools is 36.18%, higher than in public schools at 29.83%.

Figure 3. Percentage of Female Students who Feel Safe in a Room with a Majority of Boys

Only 4.83% of female students feel very safe when they are in the same room as the majority of boys and 20.97% of female students feel unsafe; 65% of the students who feel unsafe attend public schools.

Figure 4. Percentage of Female Students who Received Assistance from Male Students when They Experienced Violence

We can see in Figure 4 that only 11.74% of female students always get help from their male friends when they experience violence. In fact, 15.81% of students stated that they had never received help from a male friend when another student committed violence against her. The majority of students occasionally get help from male students when other students are violent.

Figure 5. Percentage of Female Students who Received Assistance from Male Students when They Experienced Violence by Type of School

In public schools, 54.94% of female students are sometimes assisted by male students when other male students commit violence. The second highest percentage is 19.53% of female students have never been assisted by other male students when there are male students who commit acts of violence toward them. Likewise in private schools, the majority of students are sometimes assisted by male students if there are other male students who commit violence; followed by the second highest percentage of 27.19% of female students who are often assisted by other male students.

Figure 6. Percentage of Female Students whose Opinions are Heard by Male Students

Of all the students selected as the sample, only 9.82% had their opinions heard by male students. The majority 53.86% felt that their opinions were heard by male students occasionally.

Figure 7. Percentage of Female Students whose Opinions are Heard by Male Students based on Type of School

In both private and public schools, the majority of female students feel that their opinions are sometimes heard by male students. However, there is a difference in the second highest percentage. In private schools, the second highest percentage is 25.90% of female students feel that their opinions are often heard by male students, while in public schools the second highest percentage is 19.05% of female students feel that their opinions are never heard by male students.

Figure 8. Percentage of Female Students who Received Support from Male Students in Sports Activities

As many as 25.14% of female students have never received support from male students when they played in a male-dominated sport. However, the majority of female students felt that they received support from male students occasionally.

Based on the results of this survey, we can conclude that there is still gender-based violence against female students in schools. Through the Pledge United program, we hope that gender-based violence in schools can be reduced, male students can provide a safe environment for their female schoolmates and support them in male-dominated sports activities.

#pledge2respect #pledgeunited