Each and every day, women like me have to second guess their every move in an attempt to avoid becoming the next headline.

This action consists of seemingly minor decisions such as avoiding late night walks (even in my neighbourhood), messaging friends when I have arrived home safe after an outing, or being told not to act in a provocative matter. Feeling vulnerable walking down the same streets where I was pushed in a pram is infuriating, and it is not just my reality – it’s the reality of countless women.  

But it was the heart-breaking story of Sarah Everard that really forced me to confront the concept of Gender Based Violence (GBV). 

My younger self was often glued to the sofa watching the news but it was early March 2021 that everything changed. On this particular evening, I sat horrified as the reporter read out details of the violent death of yet another woman. Hearing that police officer Wayne Couzens kidnapped, raped and murdered her, that a man with such high authority and responsibility could abuse his power so easily, made me realise even those who are meant to protect and serve cannot necessarily be trusted.  Not if you’re female.

It led me to question what could make someone commit such unspeakable actions and why. I wanted to learn more, and my research revealed that this story was just the tip of the iceberg, and that there are thousands of others that have gone, and are going, unreported.

I noticed a pattern. Continuous news reports would be released, yet the statistics would remain the same or worsen. This unravelling revelation inspired me to become a part of the change, even if I could only have a minor impact on the problem. And so, when the opportunity arose, I volunteered to join the Mentors in Violence Prevention programme at my school. This decision would later transform my opinion on the importance of the education curriculum surrounding GBV. 

Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) is a gender-based violence prevention programme which takes place in Lenzie Academy and many other schools across Scotland. As mentors, my group and I carried out lessons for the first-year students on the importance of discussing gender-based violence and the problems that affect young people. The idea is to help pupils to broaden their knowledge, show them how to discuss gender related matters, and teach them how to use power in a safe, important and useful way.

The programme explores how gender stereotypes can affect the way we behave and treat ourselves and others, and deals with issues such as the bystander effect. One example we used was the story of Kitty Genovese, a young woman in New York who was raped and murdered while her neighbours sat and watched.

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Initially the young students were mainly confused as they did not understand why countless eyewitnesses just acted as spectators while  a woman was violently attacked. Over the course of the lesson, however, they began to understand the different degrees of power in society, and that individuals have a responsibility to decide how they use theirs: do they choose to be a ‘passive bystander’ and let the heinous cycle of GBV continue to consume lives, or do they become an ‘active bystander’ who uses their power for the right reasons and challenges the status quo.

Volunteering as a mentor in violence prevention obviously means teaching others, but it has also taught me a lot. One of the most important lessons I have learned is that educating young people shapes their future decisions, impacting our modern-day world. I often look at the current state of the world and wonder how gender-based violence has become so ingrained in our society, to the point where it has become normalised. For me, the key is educating young people, and my worry is that if measures to do this, including the MVP Programme, are not implemented in schools then millions of women will continue to spend their lives being terrorised.

I understand that mentoring young pupils will not lead directly to a world of total equality and the eradication of Gender Based Violence but if the program provokes a fraction of these children to rethink their actions, and makes society just a little bit safer for women and girls by tackling the ingrained normalisation of violence against them, then it will definitely have been worth it.

What is the MVP programme?

It is a peer-mentoring leadership programme for young people in Scotland. This means that instead of teachers delivering the lessons, older pupils teach younger children about a range of issues, in this case related to Gender Based Violence (GBV).

The idea is to give young people “the chance to explore and challenge the attitudes, beliefs and cultural norms that underpin gender based violence.”

The course addresses a range of problematic and even dangerous behaviours such as controlling behaviour, sexual harassment and consent. It attempts to emphasise the value of “healthy, respectful relationships, both in the school and in the community.”

The programme was introduced in Scotland in 2012. It is inspired by similar approaches in the USA, and has now been adopted by hundreds of Scottish secondary schools.

 

How does it work?

Participating senior students, who have volunteered at their school, receive training in a range of different areas prior to working with younger children. This might include matters like consent, the role of the media, stereotyping, statistics and more.

Those involved are encouraged to see themselves as mentors to younger pupils.

Lesson materials on several topics have been prepared and are made available to mentors who then carry out a series of lessons. The materials have also been linked to Curriculum for Excellence outcomes.

According to the Scottish Government, all 32 councils in Scotland are engaging with the MVP programme, and in the last academic year a total of 210 schools delivered it as part of their curriculum. Funding of £156,000 has been provided for the current academic year.

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What is the problem, and why does it matter?

The statistics around Gender Based Violence clearly demonstrate the scale of the problem in society.

Research in 2022 found that 97 percent of women aged 18-24 have been sexually harassed, and that almost none of them report these incidents because they do not believe there is any point in doing so.

Up to a quarter of women have been raped or sexually assaulted since the age of 16, with the overwhelming majority of attacks carried out by men who are known to them. Figures for Scotland show that the instances of rape and attempted rape have been going up, with all recorded sexual crimes having increased by around 50%.

Rape Crisis Scotland also recently pointed out that the conviction rate for rape is lower than any other crime – and we know that the majority of such crimes go unreported.

Teachers have also reported increasing concerns about the influence of individuals such as Andrew Tate, who is viewed positively by more than half of teenaged boys, with the belief that this is behind an increase in sexist, misogynistic and explicitly sexualised language among male pupils in Scotland's schools.”

Globally, almost one in three women (more than 736 million) have faced physical or sexual violence during their lives. More than 60% of countries around the world have rape laws that are not based on consent.

Read the Mentors in Violence Prevention annual report here.

If you have been affected by gender-based violence, help and support are available. Click here to visit the Zero Tolerance website and see a list of services.