RAISE YOUR VOICE was set up to raise awareness and educate the public on sexual harassment and sexual violence.  

This is a significant problem in Northern Ireland, which is behind many other regions of the UK in terms of legislation in this area.

The project was born out of the public reaction to the now infamous “rugby rape trial,” which started in January 2018 and which dominated the news in Northern Ireland and beyond for many weeks and months.  

The trial highlighted the range of issues which needed to be tackled, including misogynistic attitudes towards women, consent, rape myths and victim blaming, the support available to victims, serious sexual offences and the media response to trials.

The project draws on the expertise of a number of women’s organisations. It is led by the Women’s Resource and Development Agency (WRDA) which has come together with the Women’s Support Network (WSN), the Northern Ireland Rural Women’s Network (NIRWN) and Reclaim the Agenda, a campaigning organisation that includes Belfast Feminist Network and Reclaim the Night — two grassroots feminist groups organising around the issues of sexual harassment and sexual violence.

The project is funded for two years through Rosa’s justice and equality fund and, working collectively, these organisations aim to tackle sexual harassment and sexual violence across Northern Ireland.  

The goal is to create true cultural change in order to confront the root causes of these behaviours and empower people to act to change this in their own lives.

Much of our work has focused on the design and delivery of workshops, with the aim of increasing the participants’ understanding of sexual harassment, abuse and violence. 

These were delivered to 1,000-plus participants both in person and online.

We developed a platform on the website for the public to share their stories exposing the impact of sexual harassment in a very powerful way which has in turn empowered those people who shared their story to create a cultural change in society as to how sexual harassment and violence is addressed.

Our posters are displayed on council properties across Northern Ireland and we use social media networks to raise awareness of the key message “community safety begins by ending sexual harassment.”

Raise Your Voice has worked with councillors in nine of the 11 councils in Northern Ireland on recognising misogyny as a hate crime and endorsement of the work of RYV. 

We have responded to consultations on hate crime, restorative justice, domestic abuse, stalking and the so-called “rough sex” defence as well as contributing to the production of the Covid-19- Feminist Recovery Plan 2020.     

Based on the extensive body of work achieved over the past two-and-a-half years, Raise Your Voice plans to consolidate and develop a three- to five-year strategic plan which will set out a clear path with ambitious and smart outcomes in tackling sexual harassment and ultimately collectively creating a cultural shift in Northern Irish society.

Anne McVicker is the director of the Women’s Resource and Development Agency.