The Gambia Teachers Union through support from the Steve Sinnott Foundation organized a training workshop on School-Related Gender-Based Violence for female headteachers and young female teachers serving in schools in the rural Gambia.
The training was meant to equip participants with the necessary knowledge and skills in the fight against SRGBV. Reports have indicated the high prevalence of SRGBV, thus the union’s consideration for the training of her members on this menace. The union expects participants to use the knowledge gained to fight the occurrence of SRGBV and to also coach students on the issue.
Delivering her statement during the opening ceremony, Madam Saffie Nyassi, Vice President 1 and Chairperson of the GTU Ladies’ Society emphasized the timeliness of the training. She thanked the donors for funding the training. According to her, SRGBV is prevalent in schools and regions; young female teachers and female students bearing a higher percentage of the victims. This she said must stop and the only way is through training of such nature and awareness creation.
She therefore, called on participants to be good ambassadors of the union in the fight against SRGBV. She encouraged the reporting of cases through the right medium.
Other speakers all challenged the participants to do away from the culture of silence. They argued that for a milestone to be reached in the fight against SRGBV, victims or witnesses of violations must not be silent about them.
During the two day training, participants were exposed to various thematic areas of presentations by experts.
