Secondary Vocational Education Free of Sexual Harassment

ongoing

"With SAFE - Secondary Vocational Education Free of Sexual Harassment project, Autonomous Women’s Centre Belgrade and four partners (Alternative Girls’ Centre Kruševac, Women’s Center Užice, ROZA - Association for Women's Labour Rights Zrenjanin, and KOKORO Association Bor) aim to respond to the growing urge for upscaling existing and developing new prevention and protection mechanisms in the secondary vocational education system (VET) in Serbia, when it comes to combating gender-based violence, specifically sexual harassment against students, especially girls. The overall objective of the project is to improve the institutional response against sexual harassment in secondary vocational education, including in professional practice and dual model of education, and raise awareness about the mentioned topic among students, teachers, employers, policy makers, and the general public. The primary target group is secondary VET students aged 14-19, especially girls, with a special focus on students who participate in the dual model of education. These students are particularly vulnerable since they regularly leave the school environment and spend up to 60% of their school hours in ""learning through work"" activities at a workplace, surrounded by a number of adults who are not necessarily familiar with school protocols and general policies that oblige them to the preservation of children's safety. The project goals include: (1) collection of in-depth data on the problem from diverse stakeholders, including youth; (2) improvements in institutional procedures and mechanisms of prevention and protection of students from sexual harassment on national and local level; (3) increased knowledge of youth on how to recognize, react and support their peers on the issue; (4) increased knowledge and sensitivity of teachers and employers on the issue; (5) raised awareness of the general public."