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Reporting, Tracking, Referral and Response Guidelines on Violence Against Children in Schools

Regional dissemination workshops

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To provide clear reporting, tracking, referral pathways and responses that children, teachers, parents, members of the community and schools need to follow when they encounter cases of VAC in schools

Purpose of the RTRR guidelines

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Provide guidance to the institutions that are mandated to protect children against violence in schools such as the police and courts of laws take appropriate action in view of the existing laws and regulations on VACiS.

Equip children, teachers, school administrators, parents and community leaders with knowledge and tools to enable them report and track cases of VACiS to relevant authorities for appropriate action.

To contribute to positive change in attitude among children, teachers and other schools administrators and the community that children are entitled to violence free school environment.

To reduce school dropouts resulting from VACiS and contribute to an increase in school completion rates

Objectives of the RTRR guidelines

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School community (children, teachers, administrators, counsellors, Parents and community leaders, SMC, PTA.

Religious and Traditional/ Cultural Leaders Local and Central Governments NGOs Development Partners

Implementers of the RTRR guidelines

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Rights based approach School community as the first point of

response to violence against children in schools

Active participation, involvement and consultation of children in prevention and elimination of violence

Gender and disability responsive approach to prevention and elimination of violence in schools

Guiding principles

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Building strong partnerships and linkages Positive change in perceptions and attitudes

of the teachers and the community Accountability and transparency in

eliminating violence against children Children friendly school environment Survivor centred approach

Guiding principles cont.

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A report refers to a verbal or written statement or account on any form of VAC; records what happened in view of the child survivor or victim and or witnesses.

Guidelines on reporting cases of VACiS

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Understand the scope and magnitude of the problem of VACiS;

To establish the impact of the different forms of VACiS and provide appropriate support services for the child recovery and development;

Identify the perpetrators of VACiS and ensure fair hearing and justice for the child victims and survivors of violence.

Devise strategic interventions that can contribute towards the elimination of VACiS in order to create violence free schools.

Why report cases of VACiS?

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Steps to be taken when reporting cases of VACiSSteps

Actions Actors

1 •Talk to the CSV to gather information on the form of violence i.e. her/his views, feelings, interests, needs, perpetrator•Complete the Report Form for the CSV and the perpetrator and provide other evidences such as pictures, audio recordings

Senior Male/Female Teachers, Matrons/Patrons/ School Counselor/ VAC Coordinator

2 Gather information from other people- witnesses3 Produce a complete and comprehensive report on the

case for other duty bearers; highlighting follow-up actions and support services

4 Submit the report to other actors such as the police, Local Courts for further investigations depending on the nature of the case (civil, administrative and capital)

5 Follow-up the CSV to ensure that s/he accesses the appropriate support services

Levels of reporting- refer to table 6.3 for key actors and roles

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Systematic efforts taken to follow-up the process, decisions and actions taken by the different actors (chain) to ensure access to fair hearing, appropriate support services and justice for the child survivor or victim of violence

Share up-to date information on the progress made in handling cases of VACiS

Guidelines on tracking cases of VACiS

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Student Leaders Head teachers Parents Community and Religious leaders SMC/ Board of Directors (in case of private

schools) Inspectors of Schools Probation and Child Welfare Officers CSOs and Activists advocating for child rights Local Councillors Resident District Commissioners

Key actors in tracking cases of VACiS

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◦ Capture and share information on the investigations, the decisions made and actions taken by the key actors

◦ Capture and share information on the progress made in the implementation of the decisions made by the Key Actors (Refer to Annex 5: Form for tracking cases of VACiS

◦ Ensure that the child survivor accesses appropriate support services

◦ Identify and address the emerging challenges/constraints that may undermine effective handling of the case to conclusion (Refer to Annex 1).

Why track cases of VACiS?

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Ensure compliance with the education sector administrative procedures on VACiS.

Monitor the behaviour of the child survivor and or the perpetrator (in case of staff of the school) for change (positive or negative) and take appropriate actions

Refer to Annex 5: Form for tracking cases of VACiS

Why track cases of VACiS?

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Steps

Actions to take Actors

1 Consult the CSV, other actors and service providers to establish the services provided or not

Head Teachers/SMC/PTA/ CSOs, PSWO

2 Follow-up with the service providers to ensure that the CSV accesses the recommended services

3 Document actions including services provided – complete Form for tracking cases of VACiS (annex 5)

4 Refer the CSV to other organisations or service providers for services not accessed- Complete the Referral Form (Annex 6)

5 Complete and share the Referral Feedback Form (Annex 7) with other actors that referred the CSV

Steps on tracking cases of VACiS

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Referral is the process by which the immediate needs of the child victims or survivors (CSV) of violence are assessed and supportive and appropriate services are provided to ensure recovery.

Referral of cases of VACiS

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For the CSV to access appropriate services that support recovery and re-integration

To provide feedback on the progress made in proving support services to the CSV among the referring and receiving actors including sharing knowledge and experiences.

Support exchange of knowledge, skills, practices and experiences in the delivery of children’ right to a violence free learning environment.

Rational use of the available services for more efficient and effective delivery of support services for the CSV of violence.

Identify the existing gaps in services and take appropriate steps to bridge them.

To exposure the perpetrators of violence against children as a strategy towards positive change.

Why do actors have to refer cases of VACiS?

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Steps

Actions Actors

1 Identify a network of agencies/organisations/individual service providers with capacity to meet the needs of the CSV

Head teacher, Local courts, Police, PSWO, Health workers,

2 Identify designated Focal Persons responsible for processing of referrals efficiently and provide feedback to the referring institution/agency

3 Complete the referral form (Annex 6) to ensure that all the necessary information is provided by the Referring Agency/organisation in order to inform the Receiving Agency/Organisation on appropriate support services to the CSV

4 Document actions and outcomes in the referral process and share information with other service providers

5 Provide feedback with the referral organisation- annex 7

Steps on referring and receiving CSV of VACiS

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Refer to 8.3

Key actors and general referral flow

Leve

l 1 the child survivor reports to the parent, Head teacher or Local Councils

Leve

l 2The Parent may refer the Head teacher, Local council or Police. the Head Teacher refers capital offences to Police and others to the Local Councils.Local Councils also refer capital offences to police

Leve

l 3

The Police refer to other agencies or organisations depending on the appropriate support services required i.e. medical, counseling, legal, care, shelter, safety, security, economic support, recovery, reintegration.

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Levels of referral and actors

Courts of Law/Magistrates/Office of the State Attorney

Police, Probation and Welfare Officer, Medical /Health workers/specialised service providers

Local Council and Local Courts

Parents/Guardians or Head Teachers

Child survivor/victi

m

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Self referral where the CSV approaches and confines through the parent, fellow children, teachers or through hotlines and other communication mechanisms

Parent referring to the Head teacher, Local councils and Local Courts or Police

Head teacher referring the CSV or the parent(s) to Police.

Civil Society Organisations.

Forms of referral

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Sustainable response to VACiS challenge requires a multi-sectoral approach; address the needs of children in a consistent, coordinated and timely manner and hold perpetrators of VACiS accountable.

All stakeholders have a role to play- everyone’s responsibility- table 3 presents details on roles and responsibilities of key actors

Responding to VACiS

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Responding to VACiS is a shared responsibility- key interventions

Shared responsibility to

create safe learning environment

Educate to change attitude and perceptions and promote a violence

free learning environment

Engage organisations and

communities

Identify vulnerable children and

intervene early

Target interventions on

children at risk of violence

Protect and empower child

survivors to rebuild their lives

Get tougher on perpetrators and

prevent re-offence

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Management of VACiS: key actors

Management of cases of

VACiS

Education sector for reporting and undertaking administrative procedures

on cases of VACiS

Community involvement and participation in reporting and

responding to VACiS

Police (CFPU, SGBV unit for research and

investigations on reported cases

Health sector for public health

services

Courts of law (Family and child courts) for

legal action and justice

Community Social Services for psycho-

social support and rehabilitation

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The ISC VACiS in collaboration with other Players will conduct periodical reviews and visits to Education institutions to ensure that schools are implementing the guidelines on VAC.

Use existing data collection mechanisms to generate data on VACiS.

The Education Sector to work the relevant stakeholders to utilize existing data from reliable sources EMIS, UDHS, national and international reports on VACiS to inform policy and programme development.

Track performance on the achievement of the indicators-performance indicators are defined in the RTRR guidelines- section 10.

Guidelines on M&E

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Leadership- political and technical Positive attitudes and perceptions to the rights of

children Strengthening and coordinating institutional

mechanisms: Coordinated information management, sharing and

dissemination Coordinated planning, budgeting, monitoring and

evaluation of interventions on VAC Communication and advocacy Implementation of a National Strategic Plan on

violence against children in Uganda is a prerequisite.

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RTRR GUIDELINES

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Support of all stakeholders in operationalizing the RTRR guidelines is critical

Look forward to your suggestions on the appropriate strategies.

Moving forward