We often hear school dropouts referred to as a “boys’ problem”. The figures bear this out: statistically, boys drop out of school more often than girls. The result? Most media attention and public policy are focused on boys. Laudable, to be sure, but in this well-intentioned drive, we’ve made invisible the girls who are also dropping out. In silence.
Invisible in the Figures, Absent From the Solutions
In Quebec, dropout prevention strategies are mainly aimed at boys. Girls who drop out, on the other hand, face a blind spot in public policy. No disaggregated data, no gender-sensitive analysis of their challenges and no targeted measures.
Dropping out is expensive… Especially when you’re a girl
Dropping out of school is never trivial. But for girls, the consequences are often heavier and more lasting. Many find themselves economically dependent, confined to the domestic sphere or confined to insecure, often poorly paid jobs. Meanwhile, male dropouts have easier access to sectors such as construction or manufacturing – which pay better, even without a diploma. According to the Quebec government, a female dropout earns, on average, 80% of the hourly wage of a male dropout. Yes, even academic failure is gendered.
And that’s not all: we now know that a mother’s level of education directly influences that of her children. A woman who has dropped out of school will often find it harder to support her children in their school careers, especially if she also must shoulder the bulk of the family responsibilities. A vicious circle, you say?
Girls’ own Reasons for Dropping Out
Yes, social background plays a key role in school dropout1. But for girls, other very specific factors come into play, often absent from political and educational radars:
- Family adversity: Conflicts at home or unstable environments have a more marked effect on girls, who often take on additional responsibilities from an early age.
- Lack of learning support: It’s not that girls are less capable, but the absence of a support net at home seems to have a stronger impact on their progress.
- Gender stereotypes: When you grow up with the idea that your role is to take care of others, the house, the kids… it becomes easier (and more “logical”) to drop out of school. And that’s a big red flag.
An Issue With Far-reaching Repercussions
In Quebec, dropping out of high school still affects almost 10.7% of girls2. Behind this figure lie complex realities, not least the consequences of Sexual Abuse and Violence (SAV). More than half of minor victims (51%) were aged 12 to 17, and girls aged 6 to 11 also account for 20% of child victims of sexual assault deemed founded by the Director of Youth Protection.
These assaults severely hamper the schooling, mental health and future of the survivors.
Violence with multiple consequences for schooling
SGBV has devastating effects on victims’ school careers, limiting their future prospects:
- Increased psychological distress: anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, which affect concentration and motivation.
- Lower academic performance: victims are three times more likely to drop out of school than other students.3
- Repeated absenteeism: some stop attending school to avoid their abusers, especially when violence occurs in a school context.
- Social isolation: shame and fear of not being believed or of being judged hinder access to support resources.
Quebec-specific data
A study conducted in 5 Quebec CEGEPs revealed that 28% of students reported having experienced sexual assault outside the college environment. This figure rises to 42.7% when violence occurs in a college environment.3
Dropping out of school: an increased risk of job insecurity
Sexual and gender-based violence is a worrying reality for young women in Canada and Quebec.
According to data reported in 2020 by Statistics Canada in a report from the Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec (INSPQ), there are 5 times more sexual offences committed where the victim is a girl than a boy under 18. Nearly 9 out of 10 victims of sexual assault are girls or women. Young people aged 15 to 24 are the most affected age group.2
These traumatic experiences have a direct impact on the educational trajectory of girls and women. Victims of sexual violence are more likely to disengage from school, eventually dropping out, which increases the risk of marginalization and future insecurity. Moreover, the lack of resources to support these young people in dealing with their trauma is one of the factors that accentuates the risk of marginalization and future insecurity.
The consequences of dropping out of school on the lives of girls and women are profound:
- Greater exposure to poverty: 45% of girls who have dropped out live below the poverty line in Quebec4
- Increased risk of economic and domestic violence: lack of financial autonomy makes it harder to leave a violent environment.
- Limited access to well-paid jobs: women without diplomas are overrepresented in precarious employment. According to the Low-Income Measure, 12.6% of women in Canada have a low income.5
Faced with these realities, it is crucial to take action to give young girls the tools they need to succeed.
Impact on the Socioeconomic Success of Young Women
Dropping out of school has a significant impact on the socio-economic success of girls and women. “According to the Statistical Portrait, women without a degree working full-time earn only 69.8% of the median salary of a man in the same situation. When they have a diploma, their salary reaches 80% of that of men with a diploma”6.
Female dropouts are also more exposed to insecure, poorly paid jobs, often concentrated in the service and sales sectors. We can therefore estimate that this precariousness can accentuate their economic dependence, limiting their life choices and financial autonomy.
Solutions to better support young girls
- Reinforce prevention and education : Programs like “Sans oui, c’est non!” raise awareness of sexual violence and encourage a culture of consent.
- Offer better psychological support : Initiatives such as the CAP-ESPACE program or support services in youth centers help victims rebuild their confidence and continue their schooling.
- Train school staff : train teachers and caregivers to identify signs of trauma refer students to appropriate support services.
- Adapting educational pathways: encourage a return to school with flexible curricula, as is the case with certain adult education centers and school retention programs.
A necessary collective commitment
Fighting against VACS-related school dropouts means guaranteeing all young girls an equal and safe future. Investing in prevention and support means making Quebec a place where every young woman has a real chance of building a future worthy of her ambitions.
For example, for several years now, young Quebec activists have been raising their voices to demand a safe school environment free from sexual violence. They are leading this fight through La voix des jeunes compte, a collective founded in 2018 in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Their main goal: the implementation of a provincial framework law for the prevention of sexual violence in Quebec primary and secondary schools.
A commitment expected from the government to better understand the impact of sexual violence on school dropouts
In 2020, following a summer marked by numerous denunciations of sexual violence, Christine Labrie, the person in charge of Education in Solidarity, obtained a commitment from the Minister of Education, Jean-François Roberge, to commission a study on the impact of sexual violence on school dropouts. Minister Roberge, in office at the time, had recognized that sexual violence could lead to school dropouts, but admitted that his department lacked the precise data to intervene effectively. Christine Labrie pointed out that schools needed to play a greater role in preventing and responding to sexual violence: “Not only must our schools offer an environment free of sexual violence, but they also have a preventive role to play by addressing the notion of consent and healthy relationships in depth, and by enabling young victims to be taken into care quickly.”
According to the data reported in the INSPQ article, 16% of Quebecers have experienced a sexual assault with contact before the age of 18, which underlines the fact that young people are in the education system when it happens in their lives.2 The school must be there to support them, but unfortunately, teachers lack the tools to broach the subject in class because they know that their school does not have the resources to intervene adequately in the event of disclosure.
Recognition of the problem underlines the need to invest in educational and psychosocial resources to better support girls affected by violence and thus prevent them from dropping out of school.
Conclusion
The link between sexual violence and dropping out of school is a crucial issue with lasting consequences on the lives of girls and women in Quebec and Canada. Better understanding this issue is a first step, but concrete action is needed to strengthen prevention, victim support and teacher training to ensure a safe and inclusive school career for all.
It is imperative that we continue to raise awareness and take action to ensure that every young girl has the same chances of success, regardless of the ordeals she is going through. By acting collectively and decisively, we can break the cycle pf violence and school exclusion for future generations of girls.
References
- Fédération autonome de l’enseignement. (Mars 2012). Les conséquences du décrochage scolaire des filles, Guide de présentation. https://www.lafae.qc.ca/public/file/decrochage-scolaire-filles_guide_201203.pdf
- Gouvernement du Québec, ministère de l’Éducation. (2022). Taux de sorties dans diplôme ni qualification au secondaire. https://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/site_web/documents/PSG/statistiques_info_decisionnelle/Methodologie-2022.pdf
- Université du Québec à Montréal – UQAM. (2020) Rapport de recherche de l’enquête PIECES : Violences sexuelles en milieu collégial au Québec. https://chairevssmes.uqam.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/124/PIECES_Rapport-complet_Bergeronal-octobre-2020-2.pdf
- Institut de la statistique du Québec. (2022). Personnes en situation de faible revenu. https://statistique.quebec.ca/vitrine/egalite/dimensions-egalite/revenu/personnes-situation-faible-revenu?onglet=ensemble-de-la-population
- Statistique Canada. (2024). Pourcentage de personnes à faible revenu selon le sexe. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/fr/tv.action?pid=1110013502
- Conseil du statut de la femme. (2016). Portrait statistique Égalité femmes hommes : les femmes sans diplôme ont des salaires beaucoup plus bas que les hommes dans la même situation. https://csf.gouv.qc.ca/article/2016/05/05/portrait-statistique-egalite-femmes-hommes-les-femmes-sans-diplome-ont-des-salaires-beaucoup-plus-bas-que-les-hommes-dans-la-meme-situation/#:~:text=Selon%20le%20Portrait%20statistique%2C%20les,de%20celui%20des%20hommes%20dipl%C3%B4m%C3%A9s.
