Project Safe Spaces
A gender-based violence prevention and awareness initiative delivered during the UN's 16 Days of Activism, reaching public secondary schools across Abuja.
Problem Statement
Gender-based violence is a widespread crisis in Nigeria. The 2018 National Demographic and Health Survey found that 1 in 3 Nigerian women aged 15–49 has experienced physical violence, with even higher numbers among adolescent girls. In the Federal Capital Territory, reports of harassment, sexual assault, intimidation, and harmful practices are rising, many of them in or around schools. Despite the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act of 2015, most school-aged girls in public schools do not know their rights, and teachers are rarely equipped to handle disclosures.
Target Group
- Senior secondary students preparing to graduate and move on to further education
- Teachers, counsellors, school matrons, and senior masters and mistresses who are most likely to handle a GBV case
Proposed Solution
Safe Spaces is a 16-day intervention delivered during the United Nations' annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. Designed by Abuja Global Shapers Hub with T.A.L.K Initiative, Seed Builders Foundation, ASVOIL Foundation, The GirlChild Value Support Initiative, and Beyond Her Classroom Foundation, it combines direct sensitisation visits, teacher training, creative advocacy through mural painting, drama demonstrations, and digital training to build safe, inclusive, GBV-free school environments. School engagement ran from 25 November to 1 December 2025, with a full-day teacher training on 29 November 2025.
Hub Activities
Phase 1 — School engagement
- 45-minute in-person sensitisation sessions on gender-based violence
- Short drama performance on digital violence
- Collaborative 'Wall of GBV' art murals painted with students
- Distribution of support items to students
- Presentation of the finished murals to school authorities
Phase 2 — Teacher training
- Full-day intensive training for teachers, counsellors, and focal persons
- Review of current templates for handling GBV cases
- Discussion of better approaches to prevention and response
- Further learning and accountability sessions
Monitoring and evaluation
- Pre- and post-programme surveys on expectations, prior understanding, engagement, and commitment
- Feedback capture to inform future editions of the project
Goals
Short-term Goals
- Educate at least 1,000 students across about 10 secondary schools on the types, dangers, and reporting pathways for GBV
- Train and equip at least 20 teachers and counsellors as GBV responders and safe space champions
- Deliver digital training so students can use technology to amplify their voices
Long-term Goals
- Establish Safe Spaces Clubs in participating schools for peer-led continuity
- Promote civic awareness and youth engagement on GBV online and offline
- Establish a replicable model for school-based GBV sensitisation within the FCT and beyond
Key Results / KPIs
- 1,176 students sensitised on GBV, their rights, and protection strategies
- 51 teachers and school counsellors trained as GBV response focal points
- 10 school-based GBV awareness murals painted with students
- 100+ students in one school took part in digital literacy training
- 10 public secondary schools reached across Abuja
Impact Outcome
Post-project feedback was overwhelmingly positive: students reported expanded knowledge of GBV, a reinforced stance against it, and greater confidence in spotting and reporting cases. Facilitators were described as clear, knowledgeable, and practical, and the student mural sessions noticeably boosted confidence. The drama demonstrations helped break the culture of silence, while the teacher training created trained focal points so schools have structures for early intervention rather than ad hoc responses.
Impact Alignment
Global Shapers impact area: Inclusion, Reskilling, Health and Wellbeing, Civic Engagement