What's New
‘Can You See Me?’ Educational Resource
A ground-breaking new resource has been launched by Women’s Aid in a bid to tackle the problem of domestic violence in teenage relationships.
‘Can you see me?’ is made up of a 20 minute film and accompanying lesson plans and has been developed in partnership by Women’s Aid, West Mercia Women’s Aid and The Rural Media Company, with funding from The Midcounties Co-operative.
The film explores the concept of teenage relationship abuse by focusing on an unhealthy relationship between two teenagers, Jake and Ellie. Together with the lesson plans, it is available nationwide and free of charge to schools and youth workers.
The DVD and education pack is designed to help young people understand healthy relationships and their rights and responsibilities in a relationship. It will also help them to look out for warning signs and to know where to go for help and to help others.
Midcounties funded the £40,000 education project after supporting Women’s Aid as its charity partner for two years and raising £330,000 for its work.
Maxine Sharman, Head of Community Engagement at Midcounties, said:
“We are proud to have raised much needed funds for Women’s Aid but we also recognised the importance of raising awareness too in order to help break the cycle of domestic violence.
Working with young people to educate them on what is and what is not acceptable in a relationship seemed exactly the right thing to do. We believe this project, as a legacy of our charity partnership, will make a positive difference.
“It is also timely as this March the government’s definition of domestic violence was widened to include those aged 16 to 17, to increase awareness and encourage more young people to come forward and access the support they need.”
Polly Neate, CEO of Women's Aid, said:
"At Women's Aid we know that young people are affected by domestic violence in their very first relationships, so it is vital that we reach out to young people and talk about abuse in relationships in a way that is relevant to them.
In developing the 'Can You See Me?' DVD and lesson plans we have tried to use characters and settings that young people can relate to, to help them understand domestic violence and know how to keep themselves and their friends safe. Education and prevention are key to ending domestic violence, and Women's Aid is grateful to the Midcounties Co-operative for supporting this project and helping us to work towards this goal."
Schools and domestic violence services can access the education pack via the website at www.canyouseeme.coop.
