Tuesday 23rd September. Centro Escolar Nuestra Senora Del Rosario in San Marcos, city of San Salvador, El Salvador. The hands of a Unicef child protection specialist hold those of a girl who has been targeted by a gang member. Her family has been threatened because she refused to be his girlfriend. Her father was forced to appeal to gang leaders to protect his daughter and the rest of his family. They are currently waiting to hear if they can claim asylum abroad.
The School of Our Lady of the Rosary in San Marcos, city of San Salvador, El Salvador has to deal with the threat of violence inside and outside of school. A member of staff also acts as coordinator for a gender-based violence initiative and a UNICEF-supported violence prevention committee formed of peer-mentors. The school has an ethos of encouraging girls to take up opportunities and of encouraging pupils and families to treat girls as equal to boys. An armed security officer patrols the school grounds and the school is one of many where transparent backpacks are mandatory to control the bringing of illegal or dangerous items into the school.