Education Authority Y Box Doc

ACTIVITY: COME CLOSER

ACTIVITY: TOUCH

CORE COMPETENCY 1

CORE COMPETENCY 1 AND/OR 2 Aim: To reduce gender based violence Objective: To explore appropriate and inappropriate touch in relationships Methodology:

Type: Group

Type: Group or Individual

Aim: To reduce gender-based violence Objective: To explore physical proximity in relationships Methodology: The facilitator begins the session with a short exercise Each participant is asked to pair up and stand in front of each other

Step one: The facilitator provides the participant/s with a flip chart sheet or large piece of paper and different coloured markers. The participant/s are asked to draw a girl in whatever way they wish (in the first instance). Be aware that participants may respond to this with bravado and humour. The facilitator should allow the exercise to be fun but also be inquisitive about the humour. The facilitator reviews what the participants have drawn and asks why they have represented a girl the way they have. Step two : The participants are invited to consider that the picture is of their mother, their granny or a sister and review the picture again. They may wish to change/amend their illustration. Others may be happy to progress to the next step without any changes. Step three: The participants are then invited to use one coloured marker to mark where a girl would be happy to be touched The facilitator should review the markings with the young men and reflect upon how they have come to the decision and also how they would know whether or not a young woman would like/be comfortable being touched in that part of their body. Some things to consider are verbal and non-verbal cues. One particular point to explore is what ‘no’ means. Is this ambiguous or very clear. Step four: The facilitator should also raise the point of uncertainty. This acronym could help them think through what is taking place WWW.HOW.COM WHAT do I want, WHAT do I need and with WHOM? HOW have I given the other person the opportunity to be CLEAR, OPEN and not MISINTERPRETED? Listened The facilitator could ask “what could you do if you’re not sure if a girl is happy or unhappy” The point is to develop some scripts for clarifying and it’s important that young men develop scripts in their own words. Tools: Flip chart Several different coloured markers

The participants are asked to observe proximity to each other. For instance, the facilitator may ask questions such as “notice how close you are to one another. Some of you are closer together and some of you are further apart”. The point is to help participants understand our comfort zones. The participants are then asked to move closer together one step at a time in turn (i.e. participant 1 and then participant 2). This continues one step at a time until the participants agree that they do not want to move further Before the participant/s sit down, the facilitator should again ask them to observe what happened within their own pair and also observe how close others are

The facilitator can ask questions such as: • How did you feel with each subsequent move? • Could you tell that your partner was comfortable or uncomfortable? • How did you know? • What sort of verbal and non-verbal’s were being communicated? • Did anyone want to take additional steps but your partner did not? • How was that resolved? What was your response? Tools: Participants!

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