This policy brief reviews the extensive evidence on the direct and indirect impacts of violence in and around schools, and the significant consequences for children's educational outcomes. It covers violence experienced on the way to school, within school grounds and in the classroom, and the ways that violence undermines attendance, learning and completion.

The brief argues that gender inequality is a root cause of violence in schools, and that this violence is preventable rather than inevitable. It sets out what the evidence shows about effective prevention and what policymakers and education systems can do to act on it.