In December 2018 the student representatives of the high school “R. Levi Montalcini” in Molfetta, Apulia, asked us to organise a workshop on “Gender”.
We designed and developed a two-hour workshop to discuss with them about:
- The concept of “gender” and the social norms connected to it;
- Gender equality, stereotypes and prejudices;
- Gender violence in relationships.
The aim of the workshop is to support students reflecting on how gender roles and norms influence daily life and relationships and on the impact that gender stereotypes and prejudices have on all individuals, their choices and experiences. We also talked about how gender equality is fundamental for conscious decisions regarding one’s sexual behaviour and life planning.
The course is built on the belief that any form of gender-based violence (GBV) perpetuated by adults, young people or people in positions of authority is a violation of human rights, and that comprehensive sexuality education is the strongest preventive measure we can put in place to combat GBV.
We developed the content of the workshop following the UNESCO indications published in the report “International technical guidance on sexuality education” (2017) and supporting them with creative and participatory methodologies suitable for students aged 15-16.
A big thank you goes to our GenPol-Gender & Policy Insights colleagues, who gave us tips to create some of the activities we carried out with the workshop participants.
