The International Center for Research on Women (“ICRW”) has recently issued a reportevaluating the Gender Equality Movement in Schools (“GEMS”) program in Jharkhand, India. The GEMS program is a “school-based primary violence prevention program for young adolescents,” which was developed on the principle that schools provide an appropriate setting in which to understand attitudes toward gender equity and violence. The report details several positive impacts of GEMS including improved attitudes towards gender equity and violence, improved communication between students and their peers and teachers, increased recognition of violence, and decreased perpetration of violence. Future challenges include addressing resistance to GEMS from teachers and parents as well as inconsistent participation by students.
Compiled from: Towards gender equality: The GEMS journey thus far, International Center for Research on Women (2016).