By White Ribbon UK

The Safety Centre launched in 1994 with the mission to end preventable childhood accidents. It became the world’s first interactive indoor safety education centre and has since expanded its services to deliver lifesaving learning to over half a million children, young people and adults.

As the centre enters its second year of White Ribbon Accreditation, a workplace programme offered by White Ribbon UK to transform harmful cultures that perpetuate men’s violence against women, they’re marking the occasion with a new initiative focused on helping students learn how to prevent gender-based violence.

“Some may say I’m ambitious and ever the optimist, but violence against women and girls is a serious issue that needs a collective response now,” says Chief Executive Maya Joseph-Hussain, who was inspired to focus on this essential safety issue after hearing from Lisa Squire whose daughter Libby was abducted, raped and murdered in 2019.

The Empower and Challenge programme embodies Safety Centre’s commitment to ending violence against women through meaningful culture change as a White Ribbon Accredited Organisation. The new programme, which is currently being rolled out, focuses on reducing the risk of young people experiencing gender-based violence and becoming perpetrators of violence.

The launch of the programme is driven by a belief that a safe and equal world can exist in our lifetimes if we all commit to addressing the root cause of men’s violence against women. “The Safety Centre is part of the solution,” says Maya. “Imagine a world where we all felt safe and supported at every stage of our lives. Where communities call out inappropriate behaviour; where young people don’t have undue pressure and inappropriate expectations of sexual relationships; where fewer people are homeless because of domestic abuse; where there is increased reporting; and where there are fewer incidents of violence.”

Safety Centre received strategic funding from MK Community Foundation and Safer MK to create this programme and will educate 20,000 students locally over the next three years. Read on to learn more about Safety Centre’s commitment to preventing violence against women from Sarah Surridge, the Marketing and Communications Manager at Safety Centre.

Can you tell us more about the new Empower and Challenge programme?

The programme has been developed by our in-house education team in partnership with safeguarding leads, schools and young people, statutory partners and those providing services and programmes for victims and perpetrators.

It will be delivered in classrooms across the South East for students aged 11-13. The programme, which we aim to expand and deliver nationwide, creates safe spaces for vital conversations amongst peer groups. It empowers young people and helps to reduce risks for potential victims and perpetrators.

We are proud to be able to support educators, direct in their classrooms, to deliver education on a difficult topic. We know the pressures on teachers to be specialists on a wide range of topics and having support on this complex issue is a huge help for them.

Sessions align with the national curriculum and help teachers, students and parents have wider conversations about VAWG and a deep understanding about consent, which the police services we partner with have highlighted as a major issue for young people.

Why is Safety Centre focusing on the issue of violence against women and girls?

The Safety Centre specialises in early intervention and prevention safety education to deliver our vision of safe, flourishing communities, where everyone can thrive. This programme allows us to apply our expertise in addressing a priority area for us as a White Ribbon Accredited Organisation.

We’re committed to making communities safer, to changing the horrendous statistics on gender-based violence and the long-term implications of this issue. The more we learned about men’s violence against women through White Ribbon Accreditation, the more we understood that we had to be part of the solution and support young people to stay safe today and in the future.

For example, 57% of women who had experienced abuse before the age of 16 also experienced domestic abuse later in life. We are in a unique position as a safety education charity to empower young people with key information and skills to recognise and challenge violence against women and girls from an early age.

What’s one message you have for individuals wanting to help young people understand the importance of addressing this issue?

Start conversations early and be open and honest. It’s important to promote and model kindness and respect and to listen to your young people.

Lisa Squire spoke at the Empower and Challenge programme launch event and stressed the need for education to support young people and prevent boys and men from becoming perpetrators. She encouraged attendees to ask themselves, their peers, the young people in their lives questions about what they see in the news or on TV about the issue of violence against women and girls. Do you think the way that man spoke to that woman is OK? How would you feel if somebody spoke to you like that?

This normalises conversations about violence against women and issues related to this major public health issue. It becomes less scary and taboo. Have the confidence to know children will listen. Children like guidance, they like boundaries. When you have a foundation of respect and trust they will come to you and talk to you about things.

I encourage anyone who is interested to invite us into your school to speak on this lifesaving issue. It could make all the difference to your students’ futures, protecting them from being a victim or perpetrator of VAWG.

You can find more information about Safety Centre’s Empower and Challenge programme on their website: www.safetycentre.co.uk/empower-and-challenge. If you’re interested in booking a session more about this programme, you can contact the Safety Centre via telephone 01908 263009 or email educationteam@safetycentre.co.uk.

To learn more about White Ribbon UK’s workplace programmes, including Accreditation, visit: https://www.whiteribbon.org.uk/workplace-programmes.