Violence against women workshop

Violence against women workshop

19 February 2025

COMMUNITY groups in the Newry, Mourne and Down area are being encouraged to get involved with the campaign to stamp out violence against women through a series of free workshops delivered locally.

The Raise Your Voice project, an awareness and prevention programme run by the Women’s Resource and Development Agency (WRDA), will deliver eight workshops across the region.

Open to women and girls, as well as men and boys, it will exploring a range of issues aiming to end sexual harassment and violence by empowering local people to tackle the huge issue.

The epidemic of violence and abuse that has resulted in the murders of 25 women across Northern Ireland in four years will be addressed by the Raise Your Voice project working at grassroots level as part of the Stormont 

Executive’s Strategic Framework for Ending Violence Against Women and Girls.

Elaine Crory, from Raise Your Voice, said the goal was to end the “terrible cycle” of violence.

“The Executive’s new strategy understands that we need to focus on prevention,” she remarked.

“We are a community-focused project and we believe that the change needs to come not only from the classrooms and formal structures but also within the community.

“We want people from the Newry, Mourne and Down area to understand and recognise sexual harassment and sexual violence and feel empowered to tackle it.

“We will do this through a series of workshops that will help explain the range and scope of sexual harassment but also looking at issues of consent and victim blaming, online digital harassment and how to intervene if you witness violence or harassment.”

The workshops are part of the first tranche of the Strategic Framework introduced in the Assembly by the First and Deputy First Ministers in September and officially launched last month.

The initial £3.2m package includes £1.2m to the eight organisations to deliver community-based education and awareness initiatives across Northern Ireland. A further £2m is being given to the 11 regional councils to help them support the first stage of the strategy, focusing on prevention.

To find out more about Raise Your Voice or to request training for a group in your area, contact project co-ordinator Sarah Stack on sarah.stack@wrda.net.