Independent Research Consultant, Kabul, Afghanistan.
Help the Afghan Children, Kabul, Afghanistan.
PLoS One. 2019 Aug 6;14(8):e0220614. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220614. eCollection 2019.
Against a backdrop of more than four decades of war, conflict and insecurity, Afghanistan is recognised as suffering from endemic violence and children are exposed to multiple forms of violence, including at the family and school levels. This paper presents the results of an evaluation of school-based peace education and a community-based intervention to change harmful social norms and practices related to gender and the use of violence in conflict resolution, implemented in Afghanistan with the aim of reducing violence against and between children.
The evaluation consisted of a cross-sectional, interrupted time series design with three data collection points over 12 months. Data was collected from students in 11 secondary schools (seven girls' and four boys' schools) in Jawzjan province of Afghanistan, with a total of 361 boys and 373 girls sampled at endline. All children were interviewed with a questionnaire developed for the study. Key outcomes included children's experience of peer violence (both perpetration and victimization) at school, corporal punishment both at home and at school, and observation of family violence. Other outcomes included children's gender equitable attitudes, attitudes towards child punishment, depression and school performance.
Between baseline and endline evaluation points, there were significant reductions in various forms of violence at the school level, including both boys' and girls' past month experience of peer violence victimization, peer violence perpetration, and corporal punishment by teachers. There were also significant reductions in boys' and girls' experience of corporal punishment at home and observation of family violence, with a particularly strong effect observed among girls. Both boys and girls had significantly more equitable gender attitudes and significantly less violence-supportive attitudes in relation to children's punishment, and significantly fewer symptoms of depression. Girls' school attendance was also significantly higher at endline.
To our knowledge this is the first time that a peace education program has been evaluated in Afghanistan, with or without a community intervention to change harmful social norms and practices related to gender and the use of violence for conflict resolution. The evaluation suggests that the intervention may have led to a reduction in various forms of violence, including children's peer violence, corporal punishment of children both at school and at home, and in children's reports of domestic violence against women at the household level.
在历经四十多年的战争、冲突和不安全局势后，阿富汗被认为长期存在暴力行为，儿童也面临多种形式的暴力，包括在家庭和学校中。本文介绍了一项评估学校和平教育以及一项基于社区的干预措施的结果，该干预措施旨在改变与性别相关的有害社会规范和做法，并减少在解决冲突中使用暴力，从而减少针对和在儿童之间发生的暴力行为。该评估在阿富汗开展，以减少针对和在儿童之间发生的暴力行为。
该评估采用了具有三个数据收集点的横断面、中断时间序列设计，为期 12 个月。在阿富汗的朱兹詹省的 11 所中学（7 所女子学校和 4 所男子学校）收集了学生的数据，共有 361 名男生和 373 名女生在最后阶段接受了抽样调查。所有儿童均接受了为该研究制定的问卷采访。主要结果包括儿童在学校经历的同伴暴力（包括施暴和受害）、家庭和学校的体罚，以及目睹家庭暴力。其他结果包括儿童的性别平等态度、对儿童惩罚的态度、抑郁和学业表现。
在基线和最后阶段评估点之间，学校层面的各种形式的暴力行为都显著减少，包括男孩和女孩过去一个月的同伴暴力受害、施暴以及教师体罚。在家中对儿童进行体罚和目睹家庭暴力的行为也显著减少，女孩的效果尤为明显。男孩和女孩对性别平等的态度更加平等，对儿童惩罚的暴力支持态度明显减少，抑郁症状也明显减少。女孩的出勤率在最后阶段也显著提高。
据我们所知，这是首次在阿富汗评估和平教育计划，无论是单独进行还是与改变与性别相关的有害社会规范和做法以及使用暴力解决冲突的社区干预措施相结合。评估结果表明，干预措施可能导致各种形式的暴力减少，包括儿童的同伴暴力、学校和家庭中的体罚，以及儿童在家中报告的针对妇女的家庭暴力。
