RAISE YOUR VOICE
Against Sexual Harassment
IN THIS ISSUE
Ending Violence Against ALL Women and Girls
Inthisissuewehearfromexpertsontheparticular needsofthoseexperiencingviolenceagainstwomen andgirlsfromdifferentcommunitiesandbackgrounds.
TheEndingViolenceAgainstWomenandGirlsStrategy wasdevelopedbyco-design,aimingtoensurethe diverseneedsandexperiencesofallwomenandgirls wouldbeincluded.ElaineCrory(P7)writesonabout howvaluablethismodelis,andhowitshouldbethe standardforfuturepolicydevelopment
Weneedtotakeintoaccountthemanydifferentways violenceagainstwomenandgirlscanimpactpeople, andthevariousbarrierstoaccessingsupportfaced.In thisissuewe’vehighlightedsomeparticularissuesfor disabledwomenandgirls(P4).
CoumilahManjoo(P3)sharesherinsightintoracism, islamophobiaandviolenceagainstwomenandgirls. Wehopethesearticlesprovidesomeinformationand spark conversations on how we can begin to end violence against all women and girls, after all community safety begins with ending sexual harassmentandviolence.
Throughouttheissueyou’llfindplentyofupdateson whattheRaiseYourVoiceteamhasbeenuptofrom workshopsandstalls,toattendingevents,andworking inpartnership
Formorediscussionabouthowwecanalltakeaction, hostaRaiseyourVoiceworkshoporinformationstall, youcanreadmoreaboutwhatwe’vebeenup(p6)and findinformationonhowtogetintouch(P8)inthe followingpages.
Ending Violence Against Women And Girls Shared Learning Event
Raise Your Voice and our lead partner WRDA caught up with the other Regional Change Fund OrganisationsandrepresentativesfromCouncils ataSharedLearningeventinMossleyMill.
Together we reflected on the first few months of the Ending Violence Against Women and Girls programme and heard about future work There is so much planned in the next months within andacrossallCouncils.
Dr Jackson Katz at the ICTU Biennial Delegate Conference
Some of the Raise Your Voice Team (pictured here with Jackson Katz and Jane McCarthy EVAWG Directorate) attend a key note speech and fringe event with Dr Jackson Katz He explored how trade union leaders can model behaviour and take action to challenge gender inequality and end cultures which facilitate men’sviolenceagainstwomenandgirls.
We use Dr Katz’s work to inform our Bystander Intervention workshop and this masterclass let usknowweareontherighttrack!
Beam Creative Network Train the Trainer
As well as our work under the Regional Change Fund we are pleased to support other projects under the Local Change Fund of the Ending ViolenceAgainstWomenandGirlsStrategy
WetrainedtheteamatBeamCreativeswhowill be delivering the R.I.S.E. programme to postprimary schools across Northern Ireland. This programme will raise awareness around EVAWG and will promote the importance of healthy relationshipsamongyoungpeople
Racism, Islamophobia and Violence Against Women and Girls.
ByCoumilahManjoo
Society portrays girls as nurturing, caring, innocent andnaïve,andthat’showtheinitialformativeyears areforsome Andyet,therearemanyspaceswhere girlsareexposedtothemostatrociouscrimes.Asa girl, I saw my neighbour expose himself in public, I told no one, this indecent exposure remained unaddressed. As a teenager, a stranger put his handsonmythighwhilstIwasinschooluniformon the bus, I told no one. As a woman, I have been exposedtovariousformsofviolence,foryearsItold no one, because society had conditioned me to believe that I was not to tell anyone. That my whole being was centred around, being caring, nurturing, motherlyandaboveallelsetomaintainhonour.But whosehonour?
Whereisthehonourinviolenceperpetratedagainst women It took years of healing and exposures to come to the realisation that I didn’t cause these actionsagainstme,nogirlorwomeneverdo
I always thought being in the West, a developing country where women are constantly fighting for their rights, would finally be my salvation. But it wasn’t, the laws are never enoughtoprotectthewomenandgirls
Every girl of colour I have met in Northern Ireland leaving college or university now tell me the same thing “I can’t wait to leave Northern Ireland” A place where we call home, but can never be accepted despiteitall Imaginelivinginaplaceyoucallhome, only to find you aren't welcomed This is the grim reality facing many women and girls from minority backgrounds in Northern Ireland today Nurses and healthcare care workers, women dedicating their lives to helping others are among those who have been assaulted simply for existing These racist attacks are driving them to consider leaving, abandoning the very communities they’ve been part of and are actively contributing to But the problem goesdeeper NorthernIrelandisfailingwomen Itlags behind the rest of the UK in protecting us from violence
Everywomanhastherighttofeelsafe,tobesafe,yetthegapsinlegislationleavemany unprotected and unheard. For minority women this is compounded by the institutional failures to address Racism, Islamophobia and prejudice. We cannot ignore this any longer.Weoweittothesewomen,toallwomen,todemandchange now.
Violence Against Disabled Women and Girls
EveryJuly,theUKhonourstheachievementsandlivedexperiencesofDisabledPeople
Colours on the Disability Pride Flag represent different disabilities that affect people in differentways:-
Red-Physicaldisabilities
Gold-NeurodivergencelikeautismandADHD
White-Invisibleandundiagnoseddisabilities
Blue-Mentalillnesses
Green-Sensorydisabilities
Disabledwomenaretwiceaslikelytoexperiencedomesticabusethannon-disabled women,andDisabledPeoplearemorelikelytoexperienceabusefromanadultfamily member compared to non-disabled people (14% vs 6%) People with learning disabilitiesarethreetimesmorelikelytoexperiencedomesticabuse.
Disabledwomenarealsotwiceaslikelytoexperiencesexualassaultandrape.
Disabled people encounter differing dynamics of domestic abuse, which may include moreseverecoercion,controlorabusefromcarers
Abusecanalsohappenwhensomeonewithholds,destroysormanipulates:medicalequipment accesstocommunication medication personalcare meals transportation
BarrierstoDisclosureandseekingsupport:-
Disabled victims may already be sociallyisolated because of their disability. They mayalsofindithardertodiscloseabusebecausetheyhavenoopportunitytosee healthorsocialcareprofessionalswithouttheirabuserbeingpresent
For a victim-survivor with disabilities, the concerns about moving out of their homes to flee abuse come with additional and vital concernsaboutaccessibility ofanewhomeorrefuge
Theirhousemayhavebeenspeciallyadaptedforthem.Carepackageshavebeen organised and they may be worried that they will lose their current level of independenceiftheyareforcedtomoveelsewhere
They may be reluctant to report domestic abuse from a partner whose care they dependon,andwhichtheybelieveenablesthemtostayoutofinstitutionalcare
Disabled People are more vulnerable to domestic abuse and often face additional barriers to accessing support.
Reducing the Risk - Disabilities and DA
Disabled women are twice as likely to experience domestic abuse as non-disabled women.
Workshop Availability
We host a range of interactive workshops (delivered online or in-person) around Northern Ireland that explore sexual harassment and sexual violence.
Topics include:-
Sexual harassment and violence
Consent
Victim blaming
Digital/online abuse
Allyship
Bystander interventions
Misogyny
Raise Your Voice are offering our workshops to community groups, workplaces, sports teams and more, fully funded, all over Northern Ireland
Findoutmoreandbookyourworkshop byemailingcontact@raiseyourvoice.community orvisitwww.raiseyourvoice.community/host-a-workshop
Raise Your Voice - Out and About
We attended the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council event ‘Ending Violence against Women And Girls - It’s in Your Hands’Conference’.WeHeardfromanumberof speakers on coercive control, safeguarding, and how we all can spot the signs - as well as bumpingintoDonnaTraynor!
RaiseYourVoicehostedastallatUNISONNIand Causeway Pride Health and Wellbeing day in Portrush Town Hall. We spoke to many people aboutourworkandsharedourpostcardsonkey issues like Bystander Intervention, Victim Blaming,andImageBasedSexualAbuse.
As Pride events begin across the region we delivered Allyship and Bystander Intervention to the Omagh Pride Committee along with other organisationsfromthearea.SexualHarassment and Violence can happen to anyone regardless ofgenderidentityorsexualorientation
Waterside Women’s Centre hosted Raise Your Voice Workshops over consecutive weeks, allowingforlotsofconversationandexploration of the issues Our workshops can be delivered asstandalonesessionsoralongerprogramme.
No More Box-Ticking: The Case for Ambitious, Inclusive Co-Design
ByElaineCrory,Women’sSectorLobbyist
Co-design has come under a lot of scrutiny in recent months and years, particularly with regardstothesocialinclusionstrategiesonwhichworkbeganin2020,butwhichhaveyetto bedelivered
Why bother with co-design in the first place? Certainly, some elected representatives have saidthatitisunnecessaryandhelpful.Ontheotherhand,goodstrategy,especiallyonethat isvitalandlongoverdue,isbestwhenco-designedwiththeexpertsworkinginthefieldand thepeopledirectlyimpactedorwithlivedexperience.Thestrategiesproducedaresupposed toleadtoconcertedactions,acrossGovernmentandsociety,toimprovethingsinwhatever area the strategy focuses on, and the people best placed to identify those actions are the peoplewithexpertise
ManypeopleworkingwithintheCommunityandVoluntarysectorhavetakenpartinseveral co-design processes and found similar themes and similar concerns in how they are approached and enacted – or indeed if they ever are enacted. In particular, there is a tendency towards unnecessarily self-limiting approaches to what can be discussed, and a push towards agreeing on recommended actions that are already planned by the Department running the process, often leaving participants feeling uncomfortable standing over a final product that lacks any serious ambition to make the most crucial changes needed.
Whendonewell,however,co-designcanbereallytransformative.Goodco-designtakesinto account a wide range of professional experience and is inclusive of those with lived experience It is also essential that it be intersectional; not only in terms of those included in the process, but by encouraging participants to look at all suggested actions and all the issues considered through an intersectional lens, so that it can better reflect the ways that anyactionsorinactionswillimpactdiversecommunitiesandpeopleinalltheirnuance.The principle is simple: nobody knows better what will help and what will hinder marginalised groupsthanthosegroupsthemselves.
The process to co-design the Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Strategic Framework managed to achieve this, and should be the model for future co-design processes in Northern Ireland. One reason that it was so remarkable is that it was limitless in ambition Participants were constantly encouraged not to feel limited by the cost of proposals, or by their perceived radicalism. The message was that we should set the bar high first, andthenworktoidentifytheactionsthatwouldhelp usmeetthathighbar.
With that said, we can build on the learning and continue to improve it. Ideally, participants would come from groups including community and lived experience groups that are properly funded to participate and to have the relevant expertise needed. At a time when the sector is squeezed for fundingandfortime,thismeansinvestmentinthese groups at grassroots level to enable them to build their capacity. Ideally, also, we can get to a place where Ministers and government as a whole see theseprocessesnotasathreattotheirauthority,but asanassettobeencouragedandenabled.
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Women’sResourceandDevelopmentAgencyispleasedtobeoneofthe8 organisationsdeliveringontheNIExecutive’sRegionalChangeFundtoEnd ViolenceAgainstWomenandGirls,expandingourRaiseYourVoiceProject withpartnersRTA,WSN,andNIRWN
ThispublicationisgrantaidedbyBelfastCityCouncilandTEO Theviews expressedarenotnecessarilysharedorendorsedbytheCouncil The Councildoesnotacceptanyresponsibilityorliabilityforsame.
TheExecutiveOffice(TEO)EVAWGProgrammerunstheChangeFund throughBelfastCityCouncil(BCC)whichcontributestothispublication; indoingso,TEO/EVAWGholdnoresponsibilityforthecontentandarenot necessarilyendorsingallcontentused.
