Gender equality raises a range of questions and reactions both in the field of research and more broadly in society. Fundamentally linked to the fights against discrimination, gender-based violence and injustice that have evolved considerably and still do, gender equality raises concerns and questions and is a subject of debate. Applied to public and private domains, gender equality complexifies gender relations influenced by the learning of codified and respectful behaviors adopted from an early age (Le Roy, 2013, Murcier, 2005). The behavior of a girl or a boy is still often perceived in opposition to the opposite sex since it is linked to representations and stereotypes specific to a society in which each culture will position itself differently. Although an evolution is observed in professional environments and elsewhere (civil rights, right to dispose of one's body, questioning of the patriarchal system, etc.), femininity is still perceived in opposition to masculinity. The patriarchal system still shapes many of the behavior that one or the other should have.

Concerning ​​school bullying, a girl bully is much more likely to be excluded than a male counterpart, aggressive behavior being associated with masculinity (Alsaker 1993, Björkqvist 1994). A girl should not be aggressive (Barby, 2013) and this injunction is validated for peer bullying as several studies show that girls are underrepresented in all categories of violence, both as victims and as perpetrators (Moody et al., 2013). A normative view of female and male roles would therefore also predominate when it comes to violence, while noting that if a girl ventures into so-called male territory, it may be a form of promotion. However, it appears that when girls engage in bullying dynamics, they would favor other girls as targets (Moody et al., 2013), thus entering the male field with difficulty.

The question raised by this contribution relates more directly to equal treatment in cases of victimization and the right to be protected against all forms of discrimination (art.2 UNCRC). How are the alleged bullied children treated according to their gender category by the school system? Are there differences in tolerance of harassment by teachers, parents and the victims themselves? And finally, what path(s) do girls and boys between the ages of 4 and 8 use to make their voices heard and ultimately achieve equal treatment in the face of violence? This complex phenomenon, mobilizing different dimensions such as bullying, gender discrimination, the relationship between boys and girls in the school system, points us to an intersectional approach to consider the social relations of domination or oppression in a specific context as interconnected (Harper & Kurtzmann, 2014).

This analysis is anchored in the larger framework of a project on school-based peer harassment taking place in all school levels in Valais schools. The objective of this project is twofold: a) to quantify the phenomenon of school bullying, and to describe the interrelationships between victims and perpetrators; b) to better understand, in a qualitative manner, the phenomenon and its consequences for the pupils in a preschool first years of primary school age. We use a mixed methodology combining questionnaires, individual interviews, focus groups and observations. As part of this contribution, the focus will be on the qualitative component of the study and on students aged 4 to 8 years. In addition, a multi-stakeholder approach will enable us to cross and analyze the perspectives of different protagonists (teachers, students) interviewed. More specifically, in order to shed light on gender issues in the dynamics of bullying and how to manage them within the school, we will rely on 4 individual interviews with teachers who were confronted with harassment situations, 8 focus group interviews conducted with student witnesses of harassment and 18 non-participant class observations. Plus spécifiquement, afin de mettre à jour les enjeux liés au genre dans les dynamiques de harcèlement et la manière de les gérer au sein de l’institution scolaire, nous nous appuierions sur quatre entretiens individuels avec des enseignants ayant été confrontés à des situations de harcèlement, huit entretiens focus groups conduits avec des élèves témoins du harcèlement et 18 observations non participantes de classes.

Putting into perspective the points of view of our sample’s protagonists will show differences in the legitimacy and tolerance of an aggressive act according to the category to which the child who committed the wrongdoing is associated. We will also show that, even if a boy who commits an aggressive act will be less likely to be excluded by his peers and the adult who is responsible for it than a girl, the groups find it unfair to a certain extent and require equal treatment in a non-discriminatory perspective. Finally, this contribution will reveal the current practices of teachers and more broadly adults in opposition to the practices expected by pupils in terms of equal treatment and protection from a child rights perspective.

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