Tyrone researcher Nicole Devlin receives prestigious Churchill Fellowship medallion for gender-based violence work
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00:00Content warning. This video explores a program that aims to prevent violence
00:04against women and girls. A core principle of the Coaching Boys into Men program is
00:08open conversations to create a safer future. Some topics may be distressing.
00:13Viewer discretion is advised.
00:30Last year, we had the honor of hosting Nicole Devlin as a part of the Churchill Fellowship
00:38of the Coaching Boys into Men program, which has had a meaningful impact in the lives of young men
00:43over the last 20 years. The program, which has an evidence base in building healthy relationships
00:49and promoting nonviolence through the power of sports and coaching, has also been implemented
00:55in over a dozen countries around the world, and we'd be so excited and grateful for Northern
01:00Ireland to join that movement in promoting the program's messages of respect, integrity,
01:06and nonviolence. We're so excited to see where you all can go from here and are here in support,
01:12partnership, and collaboration. So Coaching Boys into Men is a 12-week program. It covers 12
01:19different issues on healthy relationships, consent, mental health. It addresses homophobia
01:25and racism. It covers a wide range of different topics and important issues and has been piloted
01:32in a school for 12 weeks in Banbridge High School. Hi, I'm Mark Parker and I'm one of the senior
01:39leaders in school and the head of PE, but as well as that then I'm the go-to lead for Coaching Boys
01:45into Men within sort of introducing the new pilot in the school. Many of our students aren't
01:52having these conversations within their own home environment, particularly around some of the
01:56sensitive areas to do with sexualized language and consent. So before the course, not really,
02:02I wouldn't really spoke about these kind of topics like consent and stuff like that.
02:08I just ignored it really. So as a Coaching Boys community advocate, my role is to
02:16deliver the training to predominantly male coaches or teachers and then they go and deliver
02:24the training to their students and sports players. Well, a safe environment is key for the boys to
02:30feel comfortable because you want the boys to come in and be relaxed automatically and to do
02:37that, I've been having a bit of fun with them, having a bit of like conversation and then let's
02:42get down to business, let's talk about the real stuff and just letting them have opportunity of
02:48talking and really expressing what's on their minds or what we're talking about in the topic
02:53to bring again that bit of conversation out of everybody and the best out of them.
02:58For male role models, it's probably easier for me to open up because I am a male, so it's just easier
03:05to talk to them and just easier to open up to them.
03:09Yeah, it was very important to me to have them because it showed me what they've been through
03:14and they're also been experienced so they know what they're talking about and it's not just
03:19some kid who might be telling me something wrong. Well, I think it's great to have these
03:24conversations with the boys and the teachers in the school environment that we can express
03:28our feelings about coaching boys and the men and that you don't need to feel embarrassed about
03:34any of these topics. For this reason, it's been vital then that the boys felt that it was open,
03:41trust, it was non-judgmental and they could really be themselves and they weren't going
03:46to be called out on it. I suppose for that reason, it took time to break down the barriers and I
03:52suppose the way the program is set up, it starts with quite easy areas to develop and get them
03:59talking and they grow in confidence as the week goes on. I suppose whenever you look at the
04:05permanent of violence at the earlier level, the bottom level is the locker room banter
04:12and then it goes up to the more serious forms of violence, so it's really important to
04:17address these issues now at a much earlier stage in life. So as one of the facilitators,
04:25I suppose there were certain areas that were new or slightly more difficult to me and that was
04:31the one on digital respect. I'm not massively into technology and I suppose that's the
04:38more current one for our young people. Cyberbullying, like if someone sends something online,
04:47people don't really know who it is, so people just say it more and just keep on going
04:51because people think there's no consequences behind it. I suppose other areas really,
04:57one in particular was to do with, I suppose topics that wouldn't have come up in previous
05:04times, certainly in school setting and it was to do with things like aggressive rape play
05:10and that was an opportunity to stop it and then develop a conversation more, particularly around
05:16things like how prevalent porn is for young boys and how that really is starting to skew
05:22some of their outlooks. I think it was the statistics that surprised me that 95% of women
05:28in Northern Ireland don't feel safe around men. Northern Ireland has the highest rate of femicide
05:34in Europe and they're on the same level as Romania, who has a population of 20 million
05:41in comparison to Northern Ireland's 1.9 million, so that statistic is huge and we need to start
05:49having those conversations. So coaching boys into men fits into the Northern Ireland's
05:54end violence against women and girls strategy by meeting a number of their objectives in
06:01prevention and education. It's not just focusing on violence against women or respectful attitudes
06:08towards women, but also respect towards themselves and building emotional and resilient skills
06:14and I think that's what makes coaching boys stand out more because it covers so much more than just
06:22the violence and the disrespectful attitudes, but it helps young men respect themselves and
06:28value themselves and be authentic and be vulnerable. That was kind of like the underpin
06:33of getting the conversation rolling and I suppose a bit of it has been shock
06:40what we're allowed to talk like this now or talk about proper things that are
06:45happening and looking at anger and different topics like that there. That has been
06:52probably one of the standout things of getting the shackles off them and being like this again
06:56is your room, let's have honest conversation, let's say what's actually talking, what everybody's
07:02talking about, let's talk about it. Talking about things like up and up more like kind of got it
07:07off my shoulders you know like it's not good like the same thing no like anger how to deal with it
07:12like consent and stuff like that. I think it's very important to have those conversations so
07:18if there's an issue it can be sussed out then it's not growing and then it gets into a very angry
07:23relationship that develops and it's not very great. So allowing time each week within these groups
07:30to talk about really powerful subject matter has been ideal for us you know we're really passing
07:36this on to our young people and the message really coming through all the groups is look
07:41we're all mailed here, if we don't call it out now we're then complicit in the problem.
07:46Before the program I didn't really handle it because I didn't really know what to do
07:50so I just let it go but now after the program I like
07:57try to intervene the problem and try to stop it before it escalates more.
08:03So the the pilot with Banbridge High School has been just a complete success I'm really
08:07really happy I'm pleased with the outcome. The students have been really receptive and they've
08:14been open they've been having those conversations and really encouraging each other to speak about
08:20things. The staff they've been just great as well. I really believe in it I think it's great to get
08:26honest conversation going and you know breaking the stigma of some things of what's not maybe
08:32normally talked about and taking that forward because what it does is it bases like a really
08:39foundation of honest conversation and to go forward and process things but process that
08:46with safe people that really genuinely care and are there for their best interests. Coaching
08:52boys into men has fitted into the school curriculum from trying to provide opportunities
08:57for our young men to develop and be ready for the next stage of life in terms of fitting into their
09:03communities being well-rounded adults and not creating the ongoing problems that we're having
09:09with violence against women most of the time being related to men. Probably not yet but I hope to be
09:15like a role model for anybody that needs to like kind of realize what they're doing wrong you know
09:21if I could go to tell someone that they're doing this wrong or just point out to them maybe they'll
09:26look up to me and think right okay I might just have to like do this right next time.
09:31Definitely like if I see maybe like younger ones first years just messing about they're
09:36being mean to women just say you know that's wrong like you shouldn't be at that and tell them to stop.
09:43Gender equality to me looks like equal rights like how to treat others like other genders and like
09:49shouldn't be like one gender is more than the other you know. Bambridge High School has been
09:54the first to pilot this in Northern Ireland and I would recommend it to absolutely any
10:00school or sports club anybody to get involved and it's been received really well from our pupils.
10:05So I see coaching boys into men and being like a foundation and building upon that foundation
10:12for that young men know that they have a place to express their voice their challenges.
10:19Future of coaching boys into men I feel really positive about it. I'm very excited about where
10:26it's going to go in Northern Ireland. I think Northern Ireland has a great potential for it
10:31to be successful here and it doesn't end there. It's applicable in all sorts of settings
10:38the next the next place is a sports club in Belfast.
10:50If you or someone you know has been affected by violence
10:53help is available from the following organisations.