Peer-reviewed article
The school participation effect: investigating violence and formal education among girls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Debbie Landis, Gary Yu, Sophie Tanner, Caroline Karungu, Pamela Mallinga et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined the relationship between school attendance and violence experienced by girls aged 10–14 in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Researchers surveyed girls across 14 sites and compared violence rates across different levels of formal education participation. Girls with higher levels of school participation reported significantly lower rates of physical and sexual violence compared to those who never attended school. The study also found that girls' age was significantly related to their risk of experiencing physical and sexual violence.
Key points
- Higher levels of formal education participation was significantly associated with lower reported rates of physical and sexual violence among girls
- Girls who never attended school reported higher rates of physical and sexual violence than those attending school
- Age was a significant factor in girls' risk of experiencing physical and sexual violence
- The study covered 14 sites across South Kivu in a conflict-affected region
Limitations
The study is cross-sectional and observational, so it cannot establish causation or determine whether education prevents violence or whether girls experiencing less violence are more able to attend school. The study relied on self-reported data on sensitive topics which may be subject to recall bias or underreporting.
Abstract
Little is known about the differential experiences with violence among girls in conflict-affected societies based on their involvement in formal education. A quantitative survey was conducted with girls between the ages of 10–14 across 14 sites in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The prevalence of three forms of violence was estimated across four levels of participation in formal education, and multivariable mixed effects logistic regression models were used to compare girls’ increasing levels of education to those who reported never attending school. Trend tests across the four levels of education were conducted for violence outcomes. Girls’ higher levels of participation in formal education were significantly associated with lower reported rates of physical and sexual violence. Findings suggest a significant protective effect of formal education on girls from physical and sexual violence. Findings also suggest a significant relationship between girls’ age and risk of experiencing physical and sexual violence.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Participation in formal education
- Population
- Girls aged 10–14 in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (14 sites)
Key finding
Higher levels of formal education participation were significantly associated with lower reported rates of physical violence