The Cyprus Equality Observatory (PIK), designed and implemented a nationwide survey, co-funded by the National Mechanism for Women's Rights, on the topic: "The attitudes of women and men teachers of Secondary Education in Cyprus towards the phenomenon of gender-based violence and the ways in which they believe they can contribute to addressing it" and the scientific coordinator was Professor Emeritus of the University of the Aegean, Ms. Maria Gasouka.
This research was deemed necessary based on the recognition, on the one hand, that violence against women is a violation of multiple human rights and, on the other hand, the importance of the role that women and men teachers can play in addressing the phenomenon in the context of society in general and education in particular, taking seriously into account that schools, as a reflection of the specific societies in which they operate, are also a field of gender-related violence.
At the same time, however, it can be a springboard for overcoming gender violence, with the active contribution of teachers, as well as for creating citizens of the future, educated in a spirit of gender equality and mutual acceptance.
123 Secondary Education teachers from all over Cyprus participated in the survey. It was based on an extensive, literature review at international, European and national level and was implemented using the method of semi-structured interviews from a gender perspective, the instrument of which was taken into consideration prior to its initiation in a focus group of teachers for evaluation.
Its sample includes teachers of different age groups and different gender, social and marital status in order to be tested: (a) the dominant perceptions and attitudes of teachers, both within the school community and in society at large, regarding gender-based violence and its impact on the lives and psyche of students in particular and women in general, (b) their perception and opinion on the role that women and men teachers can play in addressing it (c) the way they themselves have been or could be active in this regard, (d) the educational policies and measures that, in their opinion, the state should take in order to use education and its staff to address the phenomenon.
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