Violence Against Women and Girls - Cheshire Schools Media Challenge

Harassment and violence against women and girls are an increasing concern here in Cheshire and today we’d like your help to spread the word about the impact it’s having, and what young people like us can do to prevent it happening.

This is a broad topic – we’re talking about anything that causes physical, sexual or mental harm to a woman or girl, from catcalling and inappropriate comments to stalking and the most serious of crimes such as rape and murder.

Two out of three girls in the UK have been sexually harassed in public, and most of those offences happen while we’re on our way to and from school.  A third of teenage girls have been in an abusive relationship, and online women are 27 times more likely to be harassed than men.

We’d like your help to reduce these incidents across Cheshire so that women and girls like your sister, your mum, your girlfriend, your gran and your school mates can feel safer when they’re in work, in town, walking home, in school or in college.

Cheshire Police and the Crime Commissioner want to hear what you have to say.  We’d like you to imagine you’re an influential YouTuber or Podcaster, and we want you to make a short podcast or video to kickstart a conversation with other young people, to influence how they think, how they act and how they behave towards others.

We’re looking for a brilliant creative idea – you might want to perform a mini drama, you could make it factual like a news bulletin or maybe you want to make it entertaining in the form of a rap, a song or a poem.  It’s completely up to you.

You’ll need to start by writing a script which should include relevant facts, figures, views and opinions.  Think about the impact these crimes can have on individuals, and make sure tell your viewer or listener where they can go for advice and support.

There are lots of helpful videos and other resources here on the website to make sure you’ve got all the facts.  You’ll also find links to some other really useful websites too.

You don’t need a load of specialist equipment; in fact, you can make a really good video or podcast on your phone, laptop or tablet – it’s the script that’s important.  Take time to make sure you include all the important information and that you’ve got a brilliant, creative idea to make it interesting to the people who will see or hear it.

Your podcast or video needs to be about one-minute duration and you need to send it to us by Thursday 1^st December at the latest.

One thing that’s really important is that, if you want to make reference to something that’s happened to you personally, please write it in a way that doesn’t identify you to the people who might be watching or listening.

There are lots of other schools across Cheshire taking part in this project.  Thanks to funding from Crimebeat and Cheshire Crime Commissioner it’s free to take part and the best entries will be shared online and invited to a celebration event.

So, what are you waiting for?  Get creative, have fun and we look forward to seeing your videos or hearing your podcasts soon.