A significant initiative designed to combat sexual harassment and violence against women and girls is set to empower individuals throughout Northern Ireland to confront this critical issue.
The Raise Your Voice project, which aims to address the alarming spate of violence and abuse that has led to the deaths of 25 women over four years, will operate across all 11 council areas at a community level.
This effort is part of the Executive’s Strategic Framework for Ending Violence Against Women and Girls. Elaine Crory from Raise Your Voice, an awareness and prevention programme managed by the Women’s Resource and Development Agency (WRDA), outlined the mission to break the devastating cycle of violence.
"The Executive’s new strategy understands that we need to focus on prevention. We are a community-focused project, and we believe that the change needs to come not only from the classrooms and formal structures but also within the community," she stated.
"We want people to understand and recognise sexual harassment and sexual violence and feel empowered to tackle it. We will do this through a series of workshops that will help explain the range and scope of sexual harassment but also looking at issues of consent and victim blaming, online digital harassment and how to intervene if you witness violence or harassment."
This pioneering initiative, Raise Your Voice, aims to challenge the normalisation of sexual harassment and instigate a cultural shift towards eradicating sexual harassment and violence. The project will host workshops across Northern Ireland, inviting women, girls, men, and boys to explore various issues and foster change.
These workshops form part of the first phase of the Strategic Framework, introduced in the Assembly by the First and deputy First Ministers in September and officially launched last month. The initial funding package of £3.2m includes £1.2m allocated to eight organisations to deliver community-based education and awareness initiatives throughout Northern Ireland.
An additional £2m is being granted to the 11 regional councils to aid them in supporting the strategy's first stage, with a focus on prevention. For more information about Raise Your Voice or to request training, please contact project coordinator Sarah Stack at [email protected].
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.
English (United States) ·