Training educators in gender equality to reduce gender-based violence

The Zonta Club of Macarthur Inc, Australia, partnered with BaptistCare Housing and Retirement Living/Campbelltown-Macarthur for the Making Change Through Education project.

The goal of this project was to develop a training package to educate children and adults—including parents, primary caregivers, teachers and childcare workers—in promoting gender equality to help reduce violence against women in Australia.

Research shows that gender-based violence is caused by gender inequality. A well-developed training package focusing on ways or strategies and activities that improve gender equity can address expectations about the behavior of boys and girls, remove common assumptions and promote more healthy relationships. Gender stereotypes that extend to later stages of life, with assumptions about the expected behavior and attributes of men and women, can be negated.

With a US$4,856 grant from Zonta International, the Making Change Through Education package was designed with the flexibility for trainers to select and adjust the individual lesson plans to suit their audiences and consider specific cultural and linguistic or service needs. It includes: a training manual; six adult programs with lesson plans, activities, PowerPoint presentation and handouts available in hard copy and electronically; two children’s programs; additional resources and activities, including links to various sites; assessment and evaluation forms; and a video on presenting the package.

Because of COVID-19, more electronic activities were created and the package was provided online instead of in-person. So far, it has been distributed in hard copies to four libraries and more than 350 people have viewed it online.

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