Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutes for women & girls: A Plea for Action

ILO News (Dhaka) - The survey findings were eye-opening! As presented on 10 December, in a technical dialogue organised by the DTE and ProGRESS project at DTE premises, it revealed that seven out of ten (7/10) of the respondents are aware about the sexual harassment. And nearly one-third (or 26%) indicated that least one incidence of sexual harassment occurred in the institutes they are studying or are working at; and that nearly 7 out of 10 (or 69%) confirmed those incidents were reported.

These findings and recommendations suggest an urgency to act on this untapped area to create awareness on GBV, enhance capacity of the TVET officials and other stakeholders to prevent all forms of GBV and sexual harassment; and the allocation of budget for more intervention to address these issues across all TVET institutes in Bangladesh.

Dr. Sirajul Islam, Additional Secretary of the Technical and Madrasah Education Division (TMED), emphasized the eye-opening findings of the rapid survey. While acknowledging a commendable level of awareness and the presence of a GBV redress mechanism, he noted that these institutions are not entirely free from violence, abuse, and harassment. Committing to the government's zero-tolerance policy against gender-based violence, Mr. Islam announced that TMED will undertake necessary measures, including the allocation of a special budget and reinforcing the monitoring mechanism, to establish a more supportive and secure learning environment for women and girls.

Mr. Tuomo Poutiainen, Country Director of ILO Bangladesh, emphasized the significance of organizing this technical dialogue on Human Rights Day to champion and uphold the rights of women. Acknowledging Bangladesh's rapid economic progress, he stressed the necessity of engaging women in this journey for sustainable and inclusive development, ensuring equal opportunities in every sphere of life. Mr. Poutiainen highlighted ILO's collaborative efforts with the government of Bangladesh to diminish gender disparities in the labour force, addressing systemic barriers such as gender discriminatory norms and violence against women and girls.

Some 100 attendees, comprising representatives from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutes under the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), government agencies, development organizations, and UN agencies, took part in the event. Of these, 74 attended in person, while 26 joined online from different TVET institutes across Bangladesh.

Objectives of the rapid Gender-based Violence survey and technical dialogue:

• Assess the level of understanding and perception of TVET students, managers, and staff on GBV with a special focus on sexual harassment issues.
• Understand the state of GBV particularly sexual harassment situation and know the available redressal mechanisms.
• Identify the awareness and sensitization mechanism among the TVET stakeholders to address GBV and sexual harassment issues.

Key Findings from the rapid GBV survey:

• Respondents demonstrated modest level (82%) of awareness on violence against women among the TVET students, teachers, and staff.
• The survey revealed nearly two-thirds or 70% of TVET students and officials have comprehensive understanding of the elements of sexual harassment.
• A proportion of the respondents (18%) acknowledged the existence of sexual harassment in the TVET sectors while 28% indicated they are not aware about such occurrence in their institutes.
• The survey found nearly 7 out of 10 (or 69%) of the incidents involving gender-based violence are reported to the authorities.
• Nearly 7 out of 10 (69%) of the respondents indicates their institutes have sexual harassment committees.
• The result of the survey revealed that only 38% respondents are aware about the policy frameworks such as Hon’ble High Court Guidelines and only 29% know about ILO’s Violence and Harassment Convention 190.
• Most of the TVET institutes organise regular awareness raising programme on gender and prevention on GBV including sexual harassment while some of them arrange very occasionally.
• The survey revealed that 86% of the TVET institutes lack of capacity and specific budget allocation for awareness raising and training activities related to gender-based violence.

Major recommendations from the participants:

• A specific law should be adopted to provide protection against sexual harassment.
• The capacity of the relevant officials of the sexual harassment complaint committee should be enhanced to address the incidents and make the committee functional.
• Gender and GBV related content need to be integrated in TVET curriculum.
• Sexual harassment committee meeting should be organized regularly.
• A nationwide campaign on prevention of GBV in TVET sector must be launched engaging local community.
• Specific budget should be allocated for the gender and GBV interventions particularly on sexual harassment issue.
• A campus representative from students can be engaged to protect and prevent sexual harassment in every TVET institute.
• Sexual harassment code of conduct must be developed with proper orientation plan for the trainees and the teachers.
• GBV specially prevention of sexual harassment related indicators should be included in the Annual Performance Appraisal (APA) of the TVET officials.

Actions and way forward:

• DTE will develop a national action plan to monitor the implementation of the Hon’ble High Court verdict on the prevention of sexual harassment in the TVET institutes.
• Provide capacity building training on prevention of GBV to the sexual harassment committee members of the TVET institutes.
• Translation and mass dissemination of the Hon’ble High Court guidelines.
• The ProGRESS project will support BTEB to include the gender equality and GBV focused text in the curriculum.
• The project will support BTEB to imply gender lens in the NTVQF implementation guideline.
• Advocacy to increase gender budget and specific allocation for TVET and skills development.
• DTE will revisit the Annual Performance Appraisal (APA) of TVET officials to include GBV indicator.
• The project will support DTE to conduct a mass awareness campaign and production of promotional materials (poster, leaflet, brochure, short videos) and social media resources for TVET institutes.

ProGRESS project is a joint initiative of the Government of Bangladesh and the International Labour Organization, funded by the Government of Canada. The partnership will strengthen TVET and enterprise development systems, to make these more inclusive and accessible for women by working on policies, systems and operational levels. ProGRESS stands for ‘Promoting Gender Responsive Enterprise Development and TVET Systems’.