Since 2010, Men’s Development Network have served as lead delivery agent of White Ribbon Ireland, a campaign dedicated to engaging men and boys as allies for gender equality and in ending male Gender-Based Violence/Violence against Women. 2023 marked a significant pivot for our campaign as we focused on capacity-building and training programming to address the systemic root causes of such violence. In recent years, our Health, Development & Advocacy Department received contact from many Post-Primary school professionals, seeking support on how best they could engage with their students as young men and boys in allyship for equality and violence prevention. It is against this backdrop that the White Ribbon Post-Primary School Programme was developed and adopts a whole-of-school approach in engaging young men and boys in allyship for gender equality and in ending School-Related Gender-Based Violence.
The White Ribbon Post-Primary School Programme is a comprehensive project targeting Post-Primary school teachers, staff, and management. The first iteration and launch of the WRPPSP was for the academic year 2022-2023 and engaged four schools – Temple Carrig, St. Oliver’s Community College, Bush Post Primary School, and the King’s Hospital. The current iteration (2023-2024) has one more additional partner school – Coláiste Ráithín. The WRPPSP has three interconnected programme areas – E-learning Academy, Experiential training/Training of Trainers programme and Strategic partnerships.
The E-Learning Academy provides foundational knowledge on six modules with specific focus on school-related gender-based violence and engaging men and boys as allies in ending violence. The E-Learning platform was developed by our partners at Munster Technological University, Department of Technology Enhanced Learning
Upon taking up the E-learning, participants then transition to in-person experiential training where they get to connect the theoretical knowledge into practice. Core among topics covered in the practical training are bystander intervention and response strategies to school-related gender-based violence.
Our strategic partnerships foster positive relationships between partner schools by challenging them to develop school-based awareness raising activities on school-related gender-based violence. Our efforts are to change norms, behaviours and attitudes to gender-based violence and build a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of Domestic Sexual and Gender-based Violence.
The second iteration of the White Ribbon Post-Primary School Programme was rolled out on February 21, 2024. The second phase has attracted more than forty participants drawn from the five partner schools an increase in uptake from 12 participants in the pilot phase. The more than forty participants will start off the programme with taking up the 6-week module e-learning academy exploring topics on school-related gender-based violence, engaging boys and men in violence prevention and response strategies among other themes. At a later stage, the participants will undertake experiential training to building on the acquired theoretical knowledge from the E-Learning Academy
The WRPPSP Coordinator, Fredrick Okungu, participated in an expert panel discussion on the current directions and questions for training needs and specialists’ roles in Sexual Violence Harassment and Prevention. The panel comprised of Dr. Helen Maher (Vice President, Equality Diversity and Inclusion, University Galway), Caitriona Gleeson (Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Manager, Atlantic Technological University), Sarahjane Grennan (Galway Rape Crisis Center, Sexual Assault Treatment Unit). Topics of discussion ranged from training needs and support for specialists in responding to SVH, future of collaborations between sectors and organizations working in consent and Sexual Violence and Harassment and a SWOT analysis for the specialist roles. Key areas of understanding from the panellists included the need to keep engaging men and boys to achieve a shift in behaviour, norms and attitudes towards SVH.
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