(Jenny Parkes (Institute of Education, University of London, UK), 2010) Chege, Fatuma
In the fifteen years since Beijing, there has been enormous progress in awareness of multiple forms of violence against girls, with research, policy and practice increasingly focusing on and attempting to address violence in and out of school settings. This paper traces these important areas of progress as well as the gaps and challenges. The key question in our analysis is why it is that despite growing awareness and action at international, national and local level, we still have insufficient knowledge about how to combat violence, with girls lacking adequate support and capacity to protect themselves. To address this question, we discuss four broad areas. Following a discussion of theoretical issues and concepts, we examine research evidence on violence against girls. We then consider how violence has been addressed in policy and practice in recent years. Finally, we make some tentative suggestions for the way forward.