The management of the Awudome Senior High School in the Ho West District of the Volta Region has launched anti-sexual harassment and sexual misconduct guidelines for reporting sexual harassment cases in the school.

It is designed to enable victims to speak up about abuse and harassment by providing adequate information that would be used to prosecute and punish culpable individuals.

The Headmaster of Awudome Senior High School, Courage Meteku, said it was imperative to introduce the guidelines considering the devastating effects of sexual harassment on the school’s objectives.

“We as an institution, have realized that there is a general guideline to reporting sexual harassment. But we have noticed that it is not detailed enough.

“That is why in Awudome Senior High School we have developed anti-sexual harassment and sexual misconduct guidelines for our students making it a very simplified one to encourage the students to follow”, he said in an interview with Myjoyonline.com on the sideline of the launch of the policy document.

The guideline was launched during the climax of the "Orange the World 16 days of advocacy" for schools on the campus in Tsito.

He said a digital platform had been created to enable students who may be scared of vindication and intimidation to report cases while at home, ensuring confidentiality.

“Apart from going verbal to the guidance and counselling unit to report them or going to local people to report, we have introduced the digital form for reporting. Where we believe when the student is at home, after meditating on what has happened to him or her in the school and would like to make it known to school authorities should just go online and fill out this form for us to work on”, he said.

He said the document is part of a comprehensive agenda tailored towards reducing and eventually eradicating sexual harassment in the school community.

Mr Meteku expressed optimism that the initiative would contribute to eliminating the culture of silence and provide a platform for victims to willingly give out information about harassment and abuses.

“We must deal with sexual harassment in schools comprehensively and eliminate it if possible, and we say it is humanly possible and encourage our students. We will achieve a safe school environment”, he concluded.

The Volta Regional Director of Education, Francis Agbemadi lauded the initiative by AWUSCO in dealing with sexual harassment as it sets out to erode the culture of silencing victims, providing them with an avenue to report cases.

“Awudome Senior High School has demonstrated what is possible when we reject silence and complicity. Through awareness-raising initiatives and a bold stance against harmful norms, this campaign has shown the way forward - transforming schools into spaces of respect, equality, and dignity”, he said

He disclosed an emerging trend of same-sex sexual harassment in his jurisdiction, lamenting the repercussions on the essence of education and turning educational communities into “arenas of fear and disempowerment.”

He stressed that stakeholders must reaffirm their commitment to fighting the crisis of sexual harassment and providing an enabling environment to break the culture of silence.

He opined the appointment of safe space focal persons, ensuring clear reporting mechanisms in schools, adopting proactive preventive measures, embarking on awareness campaigns, establishing support networks comprising comprehensive counselling services, and enforcing accountability as some measures to be implemented to help in the fight against sexual harassment.

He entreated policymakers to develop frameworks to guide the systemic change in the approach to dealing with sexual harassment in schools, adding that the framework should ensure legal loopholes are closed, funding training programmes and supporting school initiatives.

The "Orange the World 16 days of advocacy" for schools saw activities tailored to raising awareness on the prevalence and impact of gender-based violence, promoting advocacy that drives meaningful reforms, and inspiring action for the prevention of violence and support for survivors.