Violence against girls can take many forms, from sexual coercion and harassment to online exploitation and controlling behaviour in teenage relationships. The South African Child Gauge 2025 highlights how gender inequality and harmful social norms can increase girls’ vulnerability long before adulthood.
Girls can experience violence differently from boys because gender influences power, expectations, relationships and access to safety. The South African Child Gauge 2025 examines the intersections between violence against women and children and shows why gender needs to be considered when protecting girls.
Harm is not limited to physical assault. Sexual coercion, harassment, emotional manipulation, online exploitation and controlling behaviour can all affect girls’ development, confidence and relationships.
Sexual Violence Can Begin Earlier Than Families Expect
Sexual violence is not only an adult concern. Girls can encounter harassment, coercion and abuse at school, in their communities, through peer relationships or from adults they know.
Disclosure may be delayed or may never happen at all, particularly when a girl expects blame, punishment or disbelief. Consequently, parents should avoid creating the impression that speaking about uncomfortable experiences will automatically lead to shame, restrictions or criticism.
Emotional Distress May Be Easy to Miss
Some girls respond to difficult experiences by becoming withdrawn, anxious or unusually eager to please rather than displaying obvious aggression. Changes in sleep, eating, friendships, school performance or confidence may therefore deserve attention when they appear suddenly or persist.
These signs do not prove that violence has occurred because they can have many causes. However, significant behavioural or emotional changes should create an opportunity for conversation rather than being dismissed as moodiness.
Online Violence Creates New Forms of Risk
Digital spaces can extend harassment and coercion beyond school or community settings. Girls may encounter sexualised messages, grooming, body-shaming, cyberbullying, pressure to share intimate images or threats involving photographs that have already been shared.
Online harm can also follow a child throughout the day because a phone keeps the perpetrator connected to them outside school hours. Parents should discuss consent, image sharing, privacy and blocking or reporting unsafe accounts before a problem occurs.
Controlling Relationships Can Begin in Adolescence
Early romantic relationships can introduce behaviours that are sometimes mistaken for affection. Constant messaging, demands for immediate replies, jealousy, password requests, pressure to share photographs and attempts to isolate a girl from friends can all signal unhealthy control.
The Child Gauge places adolescent intimate partner violence within the broader pattern of gendered harm. Teaching girls that control is not proof of love gives them a clearer framework for recognising unhealthy behaviour before it escalates.
Gender Expectations Can Make Speaking Up Harder
Girls are frequently encouraged to be polite, accommodating and responsible for other people’s comfort. While courtesy is valuable, these expectations become dangerous when they teach girls to ignore discomfort in order to avoid appearing rude or difficult.
Body autonomy and boundaries should therefore be taught early. A girl should know that she can refuse unwanted touch, leave an uncomfortable situation and ask an adult for help without needing to justify why something made her uneasy.
Schools Have a Significant Role in Protection
School environments can either challenge or reinforce harmful gender norms. Sexual comments, unwanted touching, sexist jokes and humiliation should not be dismissed as harmless behaviour simply because they occur between learners.
Clear reporting channels, consistent responses to harassment and age-appropriate education about consent can help create safer environments. Teachers also need to recognise behavioural changes that may indicate a learner is struggling and know how to refer concerns appropriately.
ALSO READ: Gender Based Violence – the shame of South Africa
Parents Can Strengthen Protective Factors at Home
Protection begins with making difficult conversations possible. Talk about consent, healthy relationships, online pressure and respectful behaviour before your daughter encounters a crisis, rather than introducing these topics only after something has gone wrong.
Model equality in everyday family life and avoid sending the message that girls must tolerate discomfort to keep other people happy. Most importantly, respond calmly when your daughter tells you something difficult so that disclosure does not become another source of fear.
The South African Child Gauge 2025 makes clear that addressing violence against girls requires more than responding after harm has occurred. Families, schools and communities need to challenge the gender norms and inequalities that allow harassment, coercion and abuse to develop in the first place.
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