NOW urges schools to foster confidence, prevent gender-based abuse

Women’s advocate Melissa Savoury-Gittens has suggested that programmes in schools to build self-confidence and self-worth among girls and boys would also prevent abusive relationships and reduce gender-based violence.As the world observes the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence which began Tuesday, Savoury-Gittens, the president of the National Organisation of Women (NOW), expressed concern about the number of young women and girls who fall prey to abusers because of low self-esteem and a lack of self-worth.Too often, the focus is on the result — abuse — rather than on the factors that lead to it, she declared.“How can we stren…