The Good Lad workshops address sexual harassment with groups of male students, often rugby players, at universities in Britain
By Kieran Guilbert
LONDON, July 15 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Having tackled sexism and misogyny at universities across Britain, students and rugby players from the University of Oxford plan to drive their message forward to teenagers and sportsmen at schools and clubs across the country.
The Good Lad workshops, a student-led initiative founded by a former Oxford student, address crude behaviour, sexual harassment and violence towards women and girls with groups of male students, often rugby players, at universities in Britain.
St Edward's School earlier this month became the first school to host the workshops amid a string of high-profile sexual harassment incidents at British universities, and growing concern about the prevalence of sexting among young people.
Sexting - sending nude photos or sexually explicit messages by mobile phone - has become normal between teenagers, according to Britain's National Crime Agency.
"We talk about sexting, messaging and using social media because they are all very common among British teenagers and a prominent part of culture in schools," said Dave Llewellyn, an Oxford graduate who helped to establish Good Lad in 2013.
"The workshops started as a safe space for guys at university to discuss issues of gender and sex, and we are now working with teenagers who are exploring their masculinity and sexuality," Llewellyn told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
FEMALE STUDENTS MOST VULNERABLE
Male students at the co-educational private school in Oxford attend three hour-long sessions, the first of which discusses everyday scenarios they may experience involving girls at school.
The following workshops involve female students and debates on so-called "lad culture", according to Llewellyn, who said the sessions encouraged boys to stand up for women's rights, as opposed to helping them avoid becoming perpetrators of abuse.
The students are also learning about the scale of the sexual harassment and violence aimed at female students in Britain.
Female students in full-time education are at higher risk of sexual violence than the general female population in Britain, according to a 2013 joint report by the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office (interior ministry).
More than one third of women at university have endured unwelcome sexual comments about their body or sexual advances, while one in seven have experienced serious physical or sexual assault, National Union of Students figures show.
Oxford University student Ione Wells garnered an outpouring of public support earlier this year when she published an open letter in her student newspaper to the 17-year-old boy who sexually assaulted her as she walked home in north London.
Rugby clubs at Oxford University and the London School of Economics have been suspended and disbanded in the past two years for encouraging students to spike a woman's drink and for distributing sexist and homophobic leaflets.
Tom Shaw, assistant chaplain at St. Edward's School, said the Good Lad workshops would inspire students to reflect on their attitudes to relationships and gender.
"Our students will be going to university soon... we want to make sure they are equipped with the courage and knowledge to act in the right way," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
CHANGING ATTITUDES
The Good Lad initiative, which has held workshops for sports teams at several British universities, plans to host sessions at schools and sports clubs across Britain in the near future.
It has enlisted the help of well-known Oxford rugby players, including the university's Matt Janney, former boyfriend of Emma Watson who found fame in the Harry Potter films, and graduate Sean Morris, who now plays for rugby league side London Broncos.
Morris, who runs the Good Lad workshops at local rugby clubs, said he had observed a change in attitudes among male university students since the sessions began in 2013.
"I've seen people actually discussing things in a social situation, like guys saying in a bar 'Come on, that's not ok' or 'Do you think that's the best way to act?'" Morris said.
"People now are more aware of sexism and less happy to stand for it - they are ready to say something to their peers rather than awkwardly laugh it off or ignore it," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
(Reporting By Kieran Guilbert, Editing by Tim Pearce. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit www.trust.org)
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