(Note: please not that this activity is linked with the previous activity 10.5 and it works best if the two of them are implemented together, one following the other)
Methodology inspired from the activity ‘Bullying Scenes’ from the Compasito Manual of Human Rights Education for Children. http://www.eycb.coe.int/compasito/chapter_4/4_8.asp
Duration of activity: 60 min or more (depending on the number of scenarios used and whether the first part will be conducted)
Learning objectives:
- Help young people to identify possible barriers preventing them from standing up to gender-based violence.
- Explore different ways of reacting to incidents of gender-based violence
- Empower young people
- Enhance a feeling of sex positivity and empower young people to own their sexuality by asserting their sexual rights in relation to freedom of expression, freedom of choosing their own partner, equality , participation and inclusion, the right to willingly consent and the right to be safe from violence, discrimination and abuse.
Materials needed:
- List of the scenarios from the previous exercise, ‘Is it Gender-based Violence?’
- Signs with the letters ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ spread out in different corners in the room
- Large enough space for young people to move around towards the corners
Step by step process of the activity:
- Ask young people to reflect on the previous activity and think of the different human rights violations experienced by the young people in the stories. Brainstorm on some of these rights and remind young people of the right to identity, freedom of expression, the right to equality and non-discrimination, the right to be safe from violence, the right to choose their own partner, the right to decide when to have sex or not, the right to full participation in public life etc. (5 min)
- Ask the group if they know what it means to have a positive approach to our sexuality. Explain that this means feeling comfortable with your own sexual identity, respecting other people’s sexual preferences and having safe and equal relationships with others and pleasurable, safe and equal sexual relationships.
- Invite young people to draw an outline of a person on a piece of paper. Tell them that this represents themselves. Inside the outline they can place key words that are important for them in achieving this positive approach to expressing their identity and in their relationships. This is for personal reflection and they won’t be sharing these papers with others. (5-10 min)
- So, what do you need to be able to express your gender identity openly and freely?
- What do you need in order to be able to express your sexual identity openly and freely?
- What is important for you in order to have healthy, happy, equal, safe and pleasurable relationships?
- Once young people have finished with the outline, open up the discussion in plenary (10 min)
- What do people need in order to be able to express their gender and sexual identity openly? Write the answers on a flipchart.
- What are important pre-requisites to building healthy, happy, equal, safe and pleasurable relationships? Write the answers on a flipchart.
- Let’s now explore specifically what young people can do when they experience difficult, negative or abusive situations that have to do with their gender identity, sexual identity or relationships.
- Explain that you will read a scenario that was discussed in the previous activity and that you will present them with 3 options of how people can respond to this situation. Invite them to move to the corner of the room that represents their preferred choice (option A, B or C). If they don’t like any of the options, they can propose a different response by going to option D.
- Read out the first scenario and give the young people enough time to choose their response and go to the corresponding corner of the room. Once they have taken a position, ask a few in each position why they chose that response and some of its advantages and disadvantages. Then go to those who chose the open corner to explain how they would respond differently.
- Move on from scenario to scenario according to your time availability (30 min)
Facilitation questions for reflection and debriefing: 15 min
- How was this activity for you? What made a particular impression on you?
- Is it easy for a person to react to gender-based violence? What may hold people back?
- Is it more preferable you think that someone who experiences GBV ignores the abuse and does not react? Why is it preferable? Why is it not preferable?
- What would be the risk if someone who experiences this type of behaviour(GBV) stays doesn’t take action?
- Is it easier you think to turn to friends for support in these situations? How can friends help? What are the limitations of the support that friends can provide?
- Looking back at the options we discussed for each of the scenarios, what other options are there for taking action against gender-based violence?
| Take home messages and activity wrap up: Gender-based violence has a very negative impact on the self-esteem and general wellbeing of the person who experiences it. Survivors of gender-based violence often feel scared, embarrassed, guilty, ashamed, disempowered, lonely, anxious, depressed, alone and experience difficulty to take action against the violence or reach out to others for support. Isolating themselves further and being alone in everything that’s going on in their lives only perpetuates the violence. The cycle of violence stops only when the person experiencing the abuse breaks their isolation and makes an intervention, or when the intervention is made by another trusted person who can help. If your target group is a group of underaged young people, remind them how important it is to turn to a trusted adult for support. Parents, teachers, school counsellors, social workers, older family members and other adults want to protect them from violence and will do anything they can to help them and support them. If someone tells them not to tell or threatens them or anyone they know, they should tell a trusted adult immediately. Friends can also provide a safe and supportive environment for people who experience violence to express their feelings, reflect on what’s going and explore different options It is also helpful to turn to people who had similar experiences and who managed to overcome the abusive situation. There are various online communities who can provide support for women survivors, LGBTIQ+ persons and other minorities who are risk for abuse. Seeking the support of a professional is also very useful. NGOs, community centres, youth centres and online support services can provide information, psychological support, legal advice and help people explore their options. Reporting the abuse to the authorities (the police, the school management, the cyber-crime unit for instance) is also important for gender-based crimes, to provide access to justice. People who witness incidents of GBV as bystanders should also try not toremain silent or passive. Remaining silent is a way of saying that abusive behaviours are acceptable. Even if a person feels that they cannot take action themselves (maybe because they fear for their own personal safety) |
| Adapting the activity for online implementation ● It is best that this activity follows the previous activity, 10.5 ‘Is it Gender-based Violence’ as it entails a natural transition from identifying SGBV to taking action to address it. The scenarios are also identical, so that 10.6 can build on 10.5. ● Because the scenarios are relatively short, a good way to adapt this activity is by turning it into an online quiz. ● Go through the scenarios one by one and participants can vote on their most preferred response under each scenario. ● Hold a discussion in plenary after participants had had a chance to go through all the scenarios. ● You can also use the ‘take home’ messages to create extra questions for the quiz if you like (see print outs below) ● If you would prefer not to use an online quiz, you can use breakout rooms and split participants into smaller groups . Each group can then discuss different scenarios and then recap in plenary. |
Additional questions:
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