Who is affected?

People of any gender can experience gender-based violence (GBV) and every survivor deserves to be supported when they experience such violence.

We refer to these forms of violence as gender-based because of the disproportionate rate at which women and girls are affected and because the people perpetrating these forms of abuse are overwhelmingly men and boys. We recognise that women and girls at the margins of multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, experience higher rates of sexual violence such as LGBTQIA people, Disabled people and young people of colour. For example, GBV experienced by Black girls often combines racism and sexism, and violence targeted at Disabled girls may include disablist abuse as well as sexism. These groups may also encounter additional barriers to accessing support, and additional impacts of violence. 

Equally Safe at School (ESAS) takes an intersectional gendered approach to understanding GBV. This approach enables us to recognise where violence and abuse happen at the intersection of more than one form of inequality or discrimination, and it allows us to tackle its root cause; gender inequality, combined with other forms of inequality and discrimination.

A substantial body of research from Scotland and the UK highlights the prevalence of GBV affecting young people in all areas of their lives, including at school.  Here are some examples: