Reflect

• Is there widespread social and political recognition that gender-based violence is an issue?
• Are there laws in your country that protect victims of gender-based violence and punish perpetrators?
• Are these laws successfully applied? What are the enforcement mechanisms, and who collects the data?
• How are the issues of gender and gender-based violence reflected in local and national media?
• Who else works on gender-based violence? Are there other organisations carrying out work on the topic that you could learn from, or cooperate with?
• Are the issues of violence and gender-based violence addressed in schools?
   

Take action

Join coalitions and networks of organisations working on gender-based violence. There is no point in duplicating the work of other organisations, and work is often more effective when people and organisations cooperate. If you are just starting to address gender-based violence in your work you could benefit from joining a coalition, giving you access to other organisations’ knowledge and expertise, contacts, training, and research. You could offer a contribution based on providing a youth perspective on the issues discussed, and on expanding the outreach of the coalition.

Reflect

• How does your organisation address gender-based violence? How does it work on prevention (e.g. it reports cases of gender-based violence, it runs awareness-raising campaigns, etc.)?
• Who is involved in the decision-making structures of your organisation? Are men and women equally represented? Can LGBT+ young people openly assert their identity and take part in your organisation? Are they part of any decision-making structures?
• Do you consider the effect of decisions on different groups – e.g. on men, women, and those who identify as neither?
• Are you aware of gender-based violence experienced by young people in your organisation/group? Are such instances documented/acted upon/discussed? Are there mechanisms in place for reporting or supporting victims?
• Is gender equality viewed through a human rights lens, with a clear understanding that gender equality is not about “special rights”, but about promoting everyone’s dignity and rights to freedom and equality?
• Have the youth workers and youth leaders within the organisation been trained to recognise gender-based violence, and are they able to address it in their youth work, including by providing victims with information about rights and services they can access?
• Are your activities accessible to everyone? How is gender reflected in your selection processes and in communication with participants?
• What kind of resources do you use in your activities? Do these reflect and reproduce gender stereotypes and roles in the society – or do they question them?
• Is there provision for equality of opportunity and participation both with respect to participants, but also for teams or experts invited?
• Do you have a policy for addressing harassment or gender-based violence incidents that might occur in youth work contexts? Is this policy, including any contact persons, made explicit to participants?

Take action

Draft a gender policy document containing

• statements of principle relating to gender equality
• specific regulations about how these will be monitored and
• mechanisms for safeguarding gender equality.

The drafting of strategies and policies to promote gender equality can be an important process in itself, even before any strategy or policy is implemented. In participatory environments, such processes and documents need to be dynamic, and open to consultation and revision.

Reflect

• Do you use a gender binary system of reference in application forms or in communication with young people?
• Do you use gender normative titles such as Ms/Mr in documents?
• Are you able to detect sexist language, and respond appropriately?
• Do you explain choices, such as using gender-neutral pronouns, to participants and youth workers?
   

Take action

Review and, if necessary, create a series of template documents for your organisation, by removing all gender normative titles and including gender sensitive language. This may be difficult to do in some languages, so you may need to see if any such attempts have already been made by others, and discuss possible solutions with colleagues.

Reflect

• If you work in a youth centre, have staff been trained on questions of gender equality - including any staff involved in providing services? If you work in a school, or are holding sessions in another establishment, have you discussed such issues with those with responsibility for the establishment?
• When running residential projects, do you take into account the comfort of participants - in terms of accommodation, sharing of rooms, the safety and security of venues and the local neighbourhood?
• Do you accommodate for specific needs (e.g. by allowing someone to accompany a participant, if necessary)?
• Have you developed a code of conduct with participants?
• Do you have emergency contacts for participants? Are you aware of any particular issues you may need to take into account when communicating with emergency contacts? For example, in the case of an LGBT+ participant, do you know if they are “out” to the emergency contact?
• In the case of minors, are you aware of what it may be appropriate or inappropriate to communicate to parents?
• Is there an allocated “trust member” of the educational team that participants can either seek advice from, or appeal to, in cases of discrimination? Is the allocated person aware of issues which might require recourse to legal action?
   

Take action

Work with “single sex” groups in youth work is often used to help young people to address prejudice, stereotypes, and questions about gender norms, and to provide a space for them to explore issues such as sexuality and gender identity. Such groups can help to bridge the gap between society’s expectations and self-realisation.

You could also think of these groups in terms broader than gender: a girls-only group should include transgender girls, if they want to join. You could also organise support groups for young intersex people, or for young lesbian and gays. The same principle should apply: to provide a safe space, where questions relating to gender identity and gender-based violence can be discussed. An effective group should provide members with a feeling of belonging, with tools to deal with problems and conflicts that might arise in everyday life, and with increased self-awareness.