Until the 2006 United Nations Study on Violence against Children, the problem of school-based violence remained largely invisible.The UN Study and the consultation process around it, however, revealed that a high incidence of violence against children occurs at or around schools and other educational facilities. In many countries, physical, sexual, emotional and social violence is committed by teachers and school staff as well as by other students, and has significant negative effects on children's health and safety, enrolment and educational achievement and dignity, self-esteem and social relationships. The objective of this paper is to identify policies, programmes and legal instruments that address school violence in the developing world, and to draw implications for policy, practice and research.