Arts and education charity Tender has commenced its specialist toolkit and training programme to help teach children and young people in London about building healthy relationships with the women and girls they interact with every day.
The £1million three-year project is funded by the Mayor of London and is part of his wide ranging public health approach to ending the epidemic of violence against women and girls. It provides all London secondary schools with access to an innovative new resource and training package – specifically designed to empower the next generation of Londoners, including young boys, to stand up and tackle sexist and misogynistic attitudes.
Teachers are invited to free, local training sessions where they will learn techniques for using the toolkit effectively, so they are best placed to lead workshops on building healthy relationships, calling out sexism, and exploring negative and positive language. All participating secondary schools will then receive tailored support to embed the learning in their individual environments.
Schools and parents throughout the UK are reporting a rapid spread of harmful misogynist attitudes amongst children and teenagers including increased sexual harassment and intimidation of students and teachers alike. This has accelerated in response to irresponsible yet prolific social media influencers whose discourse condones and encourages unhealthy behaviour and relationships in content viewed billions of times.
With nearly two decades’ experience using theatre and the arts to teach young people about healthy relationships, Tender has the expertise to help secondary schools embed long-term solutions to this problem.
Susie McDonald, CEO of Tender, said:
‘The rise in harmful sexist and misogynistic attitudes among young people requires urgent action. Such attitudes play a significant role in increasing domestic abuse and sexual violence – both in the short term and long into the future. However, from our work in schools across England, we know that many teachers feel unprepared to respond to this behaviour effectively.
‘Influencers exploit any fears and insecurities that boys and young men may have about their sense of identity and what it means to be male. It’s important that young men are not attacked for being curious about these messages, but rather encouraged to discuss, dissect and ultimately conclude themselves that these views are negative. We work with young men to help build their confidence and explore positive attitudes and behaviours.
‘As experts in healthy relationships and preventing abuse, Tender is perfectly placed to provide teachers with the training and support they need to tackle this problem thoroughly and effectively. We hope as many teachers and schools as possible take advantage of this opportunity and do all they can to help end violence and abuse amongst London’s young people.’
Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Sophie Linden, said:
‘I’m really pleased that educational toolkit is helping pupils recognise and tackle misogynistic behaviour. The Mayor and I are determined to help teach our next generation of men about building healthy relationships with the women and girls they see and interact with every day.
‘That’s why I am delighted that our funding will see teachers across all London boroughs receive specialist training so they can make best use of the workshops in the toolkit and work to tackle negative behaviours towards women and girls and build a safer London for everyone.
‘This approach is part of the Mayor’s refreshed strategy for tackling the epidemic of violence against women and girls in the capital. The Mayor is championing a public health approach and is encouraging everyone in London, particularly men and boys, to play their part in ending this scourge once and for all.’
In order to support teachers in primary schools and SEND settings, Tender will launch the second phase of the programme this summer 2023 with a toolkit and training tailored to these specific settings.
The toolkit and training package forms part of the Mayor’s public health approach to tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) and builds on the success of his #HaveAWord campaign which urges men and boys in particular to play their part.
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Further information
Sessions are offered in all London boroughs.
• Full list of sessions in each borough
Contact
For media enquiries, please contact Kate Vine on katevine@tender.org.uk (Mon – 12pm, Wed) or Cordelia Morrison on cordelia@tender.org.uk (12pm Wed – Fri).
For general enquiries, please contact toolkit@tender.org.uk.
About Tender
Tender Education and Arts is a charity that prevents domestic and sexual violence in the lives of children and young people through creative projects.
We support young people to advocate for themselves in relationships, through educating them about healthy and unhealthy relationships, the early warning signs of abuse and how to seek and/or signpost for support if they encounter it.
Find out more at https://tender.org.uk.
The Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is investing £1million to produce and distribute the new VAWG prevention toolkit and support the teaching of workshops in schools. The VAWG toolkit has been set up by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and Tender, an arts-educational charity, to tackle violence against women and girls by teaching young men and boys about everyday sexism and misogyny and support the learning of positive views and behaviours which will lead to healthier relationships with the women and girls they interact with on a daily basis.
There are eight separate workshop templates included in the VAWG toolkit.
Earlier this year, the Mayor of London launched a new campaign to tackle violence against women and girls, calling on men to “have a word” with themselves, and then their friends in order to tackle violence against women and girls. This initiative aims to challenge the sexist attitudes and inappropriate behaviours exhibited by some men in order to tackle the epidemic of misogyny and violence against women and girls. A core part of this campaign is the #HaveAWord campaign video, which has been viewed over 15 million times. Top London football clubs, from Chelsea to Crystal Palace, Arsenal to West Ham as well as rugby giants from Harlequins to Saracens have backed the campaign and the video has since won the Bronze Glass, Lion for Change award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
