Gender-based violence in schools is being tackled with a program led by Serenas in partnership with the government of Rio de Janeiro.
School is often the first collective space in life. It's where girls and boys build worldviews, learn about boundaries, relationships, and belonging. It can and must also be a safe place, where they learn to protect others, cultivating respect, care, and empathy from an early age.
It is with this commitment that Serenas , in partnership with the Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro, launched Nós+Seguras : the first state program focused on preventing gender-based violence in public schools. The proposal is ambitious and pioneering, stemming from the certainty that prevention is also education.
With a planned duration of three years, the initiative was built upon a technical cooperation agreement with the State Secretariats for Women, Education, and Health, and aims to strengthen the role of public schools as agents of protection, care, and transformation.
An intersectoral action, with listening and intention
Gender-based violence doesn't begin with an isolated act. It feeds on silence and inaction. Prevention, therefore, means creating a presence.
Nós +Seguras focuses on an intersectoral and in-depth approach, which combines training for education and health professionals , listening to students, producing accessible educational materials , and strengthening local protection networks .
Right at the beginning of the program, a diagnostic phase , using a mixed-methods approach (qualitative and quantitative) and with the active participation of the school community. With support from the Indian platform APURVA.AI , students, educators, health and social assistance professionals were consulted about violence, intersectionality, and the experiences that shape the daily lives of schools in Rio de Janeiro state.
Collective listening is the starting point for action. By recognizing the reality experienced by girls and boys, the program has designed strategies to reduce cases of violence, improve well-being and school performance, and prevent dropout . The expected impact reaches more than 550,000 students and 35,000 professionals in the state education system .
Support sustains equality and combats gender-based violence
Strengthening organizations that work for gender equality is a strategic decision to address inequalities in Brazil. When this support is institutional, it guarantees what is often lacking: stability, resources, and real conditions for impactful initiatives, such as those of Serenas , to be sustained, grow, and continuously influence public management.
Focus pillar , the Bem Maior Movement directs investments to organizations with consistent work addressing the structural causes of inequality, with a presence in the territories and an integrated approach. Support for Serenas strengthens a trajectory of articulation and transformation in the fields of education, protection, and rights.
Prevention that plants the future
Over the next few years, the focus will be on transforming listening into action : training educators, implementing the developed materials, supporting schools in creating protocols, and strengthening the role of the community as an ally in preventing violence.
The program's strength lies in what it mobilizes. Beyond actions, it works with a long-term horizon on awareness, coordination, and collective commitment to the safety of children . And it is in this field, where education meets protection, that the most profound transformations begin.
About the series "Paths to the Greater Good"
"Directions to the Greater Good" is a series of stories that reveals, in practice, how initiatives supported by the Greater Good Movement are driving real transformations in their territories and causes. Each story brings to light inspiring trajectories of organizations that, with support and networking, strengthen community ties, expand opportunities, and build sustainable paths to development for Brazil.
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