The aim of this Girl Safety toolkit is to support organizations in creating and expanding safe opportunities for girls. A safe programme needs to build the social capital of girls, not only to build their sense of comfort and support them in gaining and deploying skills, but also to provide them with an early sensing device, to help them assess and deal with risk.
When thinking about Girl Safety, it is important to remember that the experiences of girls vary tremendously. A complex combination of factors – age, life stage, socio-economic status, religion, ethnicity, caste, sexual orientation, health (physical and mental), minority status, citizenship and status as an asylum seeker or refugee – plays a role in determining their safety.
This toolkit provides an array of tools for the programme designer on how to assess a situation, design the programme, implement the programme, and then monitor and evaluate. Each section provides tools, information, games, and checklists to ensure that those working to promote girl safety have a strong reserve to aid them in the field.
This approach will:
- Increase girls’ awareness regarding safety issues.
- Increase key stakeholders’ knowledge of roles and responsibilities in protecting and promoting girls.
- Ensure robust safety strategies are adopted within programmes.
Although potential risks can seem daunting, programmes can be creatively adapted to be safe for girls. Developing skills and confidence in programming safely can be done using the guidance, exercises and tools in this toolkit.
Whilst organisations should put in place everything possible to prevent harm arising from girls’ involvement in their programmes, they need to be realistic and accept that at times harm will take place and they must be prepared to address and learn from it, for better programme design in future.
Whilst responsibility for girls’ safety will always remain with adults, girls themselves have a lot to offer. They can decide on activities that will help them participate in programmes safely and identify the support they need from organisations to implement those activities. With the right support, they can prove to be excellent champions of safety within their own community and are often instrumental in helping other girls understand safety. Creating opportunities for girls’ empowerment on safety helps them build protective assets that will support them both during and beyond the programme.
All programmes should be implemented in a safe environment. This does not preclude organisations from implementing programmes in inherently risky or dangerous places but means creating a safe environment within those places. Organisations need to engage appropriate stakeholders in creating a safe environment for girls and implement key activities within all programmes to enable them to run more safely
You can download this toolkit for free here.
