The Lanarkshire Blood Borne Virus Network (BBV) and NHS Lanarkshire’s Gender Based Violence service played a key role in the recent Preventing and Responding to Gender Based Violence in Schools event.
Working with Lanarkshire Rape Crisis Centre, North Lanarkshire Violence Against Women Partnership and North Lanarkshire Council’s Education Department, they delivered an event for over 100 staff including teachers, support workers and educational psychologists.
Attendees met at St Ambrose High School in Coatbridge to focus on how to support staff to:
- tackle sexism and misogyny in school;
- deal with the impact of online extremism and misogynistic influencers;
- understand the impact on young people of accessing pornography on the internet;
- take a whole-school approach to sexual harassment and violence and its impact on pupils and staff.
The keynote speaker was Laura Bates, a world-renowned author who runs the Everyday Sexism Project.
Attendees also heard from Michael Conroy, who runs the Men at Work project to deliver transformative training for professionals in supporting the healthy personal development of boys and young men.
The event was chaired and opened by Trish Tougher, BBV Network Manager, and attended by: Dr John Logan, BBV Executive Lead for NHS Lanarkshire; Ann Hayne, Gender Based Violence Lead for NHS Lanarkshire; and Dr Ishbel Begg, BBV Psychologist, NHS Lanarkshire.
Ann Hayne said: “I’m delighted as part of the North Lanarkshire Violence Against Women Partnership to support our colleagues in education, who are tackling these complex issues every day in our schools. Healthy relationships are crucial to community wellbeing.”
Plans are being made to run a similar event in South Lanarkshire schools later this year.
