Voices Against Violence resource

Thanks to Alison Cahill, a Leader with Rathdowney Senior Branch, for writing this piece after attending the Academy in Slovenia:

Have you heard about the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) Voices Against Violence toolkit? A step on from the Free Being Me programme, this toolkit looks at the global pandemic of gender-based violence against girls and women. The programme has been tailored for different age groups, so it can be run with Ladybirds, Brownies, Guides or Senior Branch with age-appropriate discussions and activities.

Gender-based violence takes on different forms in different countries, but the stark reality is that one in three women around the world experience violence in their lifetime. As the world’s largest women’s organisation, this is something really important to WAGGGS. How likely we are to experience violence, and how likely we are to be protected from it, depends hugely on who we are and where we live.

An activity for the older age groups is to give every girl a piece of paper with a person on it. Examples of these people would be:

A 45 year old white man with a good job.

A trans-woman who was lost contact with her family.

An Indian woman with eight children, whose husband has left her.

A young man addicted to drugs.

A 30 year old stay-at-home mother of three.

The CEO of a big company.

A 15 year old girl who is married to a man twice her age.

A 17 year old boy who is scared to come out to his family.

No one tells anyone else who they are. Everyone stands in a line facing the same way and you call out statements. The girls take one step forward if they think the statement applies to their ‘person’ and one step back if it doesn’t. If it might be either way, they can stay as they are. After you’ve read a series of these statements stop and see who is ‘far ahead’ and who is ‘lagging behind’ on this journey. Ask the girls who are farthest either way to read out who they are. Once everyone has sat back down, have a discussion on how these people’s live are different. Ask the girls how much danger they think those different people were in from gender-based violence. What resources did their person have to protect themselves? Did they have any?

Examples of statements would be:

I feel I have a lot of job opportunities open to me.

I have the money I need to do the things I want.

I feel safe in my bed at night.

My future is bright.

I have suffered discrimination in my life.

I have access to any medical help I need.

I have control over my life.

I have friends and family I can turn to when I need help.

Did you know IGG has Voices Against Violence trainers who can help you run the programme with your Unit? Contact National Office at info@irishgirlguides.ie to find out more.

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