About Our Workshops : Talking to Young People about Sexual Harassment
Issy Warren
What’s involved?
The core of every workshop is using real life stories. We never quote directly from a survivor, but our scenarios are collations of the thousands of testimonies we’ve received over the years. They include things many of us will be all too familiar with; an interaction turning aggressive after a rejection, sexualised comments, unwanted touching on a crowded bus.
We also include the stories that are not shared by every survivor - examples of sexual harassment that other forms of prejudice, such as racism, homophobia, transphobia, or ableism. Because not all women and girls experience harassment in the same way.
We use the stories to spark conversation, critical thinking and empathy on the topic of sexual harassment. We ask questions like ‘how do we know the difference between harassment and flirting?’, ‘who does it feel like holds power here?’, or ‘how did the person in this story want to make them feel?’.
We want young people to reconsider behaviours, language and attitudes that they previously dismissed as normal, or ‘banter’. And most importantly, we want them to have the tools to ask for help when they need it. My personal hope for the pupils I work with is that they feel able to trust their instincts about a situation, even if the adults or peers around them are brushing it off.
“Our students really enjoyed the workshop, and our teachers were incredibly impressed with how well they engaged with the activities. Exploring real-life experiences of PSH [public sexual harassment] helped the students to understand what PSH is and the impact it has on young people.” - Staff Member
What do young people say?
“I liked the chill vibes and the feminism”
“It was an inclusive discussion letting everyone have a chance to give their opinions”
Looking through our feedback forms, the overwhelming thing that students say is that they felt relaxed. They liked that they didn't feel judged, that there weren't right or wrong answers, that they could talk about their experiences, if they wanted to. In the current political and online climate, young people of all genders feeling comfortable taking part in an open discussion about sexual harassment and misogyny feels like a pretty big achievement.
“This made me believe we can talk to someone for help if something bad happened”
When we ask students who’ve completed our workshop how confident they feel challenging harassment, their average answer has been 8.7 out of 10. In a school we worked in for an entire year, the percentage of students who agreed they feel able to report sexual harassment at school rose from 53% to 79%.
At the point of launching our Culture Must Change campaign, and the commencement of the new public sexual harassment law, we have reached over 10,000 pupils and teachers with our programmes. I am so proud of the impact we’ve had, and always grateful to the amazing teachers who work so hard to have us at their school.
You can read more about what we do at https://www.ourstreetsnow.org/schools
