Ghana University Pilot: Embedding Safety Curriculum at Scale

Background

In September 2024, SafeHers partnered with a major public university in Accra to pilot its campus safety curriculum across all first-year female students. The university's student welfare office had identified a persistent gap: female students were experiencing safety incidents at significant rates but reporting them at very low rates. The working hypothesis was that lack of knowledge — not lack of incidents — was driving the reporting gap.

The Challenge

The university faced three interconnected challenges:

1. Underreporting: Fewer than 15% of students who experienced harassment or assault were formally reporting it, based on anonymous surveys.
2. Knowledge deficit: Students were arriving from varied secondary school backgrounds with no standardised safety education.
3. Resource constraints: The welfare office had a small team and could not deliver bespoke training to 4,000+ first-year students annually.

The Approach

SafeHers worked with the university's student affairs team to design a scalable model:

Phase 1 — Train the Trainers (August 2024) SafeHers conducted a three-day intensive Master Trainer workshop with four student affairs staff. All four passed the certification assessment and were equipped to deliver the full curriculum independently.

Phase 2 — Curriculum Integration The SafeHers curriculum was integrated into the mandatory first-year orientation week, delivered to female students in cohorts of 60. Each session lasted three hours and covered personal safety, campus-specific risk factors, online safety, and reporting pathways.

Phase 3 — Digital Supplement All participants received the University Campus Safety Toolkit and Personal Safety Checklist as digital downloads. A WhatsApp broadcast group was established for ongoing safety tips throughout the academic year.

Results

By the end of the academic year:

• Incident reporting increased by 40% compared to the prior year baseline
• Knowledge assessments showed 87% of participants could correctly identify three or more reporting pathways after training
• Satisfaction scores averaged 4.7 / 5.0 across all cohorts
• The university's student council voted to request extension of the programme to male students in the following year

What Worked

The Train-the-Trainer model was the critical success factor. By equipping the university's own staff rather than flying in external facilitators for every session, SafeHers created a sustainable internal capability. The welfare team now owns the programme and has the confidence to adapt and extend it.

The WhatsApp broadcast group proved unexpectedly effective as a low-friction ongoing touch point. Bi-weekly safety tips maintained engagement and prompted several students to reach out for individual support.

Lessons Learned

Peer co-facilitation — pairing a trained staff member with a senior student volunteer — significantly increased engagement in sessions. Students responded to their peers differently than to institutional authority figures.

The three-hour session length was appropriate for the content but placed a ceiling on depth. The university is now exploring a four-session model in year two.

Looking Ahead

The university has committed to embedding the SafeHers curriculum as a permanent component of student orientation and is in discussion with SafeHers about extending the programme to postgraduate students.

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This case study was compiled with the consent of the institution. Identifying details have been adjusted at the client's request.