Gender Equality Festival 2016, 14th-16th September
Put on your gender glasses: the Gender Equality Festival begins on October 14th!
The Gender Equality Festival challenges you see the world through the pink and blue glasses. What if both women, and men tried to look at the world from the other gender’s perspective? Through theatre plays, film projections, workshops and competitions, the festival encourages young people to defy preconceptions about what is feminine and what is masculine, and learn to get involved in the prevention of gender discrimination and violence. A.L.E.G. has been organizing this event for over 10 years, allowing teenagers to come up with and implement activities targeting other youngsters. The project taking the form of a festival aims at offering teenagers access to education targeted at preventing couple violence and at promoting healthy relationships in which power is divided between the two.
What if school prepared us for healthy relationships, assertive communication, recognising and reporting abuse? Those who are interested to find out are invited to the Conference „Equality and Prevention of Gender-based Violence in Education”. The conference brings together high school teachers and pupils who have tested the educational material proposed by A.L.E.G. in the school year 2016/2017 within the project “Gender Equality Awareness Raising against Intimate Partner Violence II”, funded through the Daphne programme of the European Union. Fifty-five teachers and school counsellors in 6 counties including Sibiu were trained to teach the module, and 274 pupils participated at the 13 hours of interactive activities. Of these participants, 12 came from the “Gulliver” Complex of Sibiu, as youngsters in the child protection system are vulnerable to repeated violence. The conference will present the results to the authorities, with a purpose to including the module in the mass education system. The Romanian educational package can be downloaded at www.gear-ipv.eu.
The pupils who took part to the classes on healthy relationships transposed what they learnt into video materials, which were juried within the competition “Unlearning Violence” (to see the videos, click here). During the conference, we will award the prizes and project the winning video.
In parallel to the conference, in the centre of Sibiu, volunteers-letters will encourage passers-by to “write” street messages about healthy relationships, during the activity “Choose your words!”.
On Saturday, October 15th, starting at 6 p.m., at Librăria Habitus, you can get involved in changing the ending of a theatre play. Forum theatre is a type of educational theatre invented by Augusto Boal with the purpose of promoting societal changes. This year’s performance reveals the pressure which high school pupils face in their relationships, trying to find answers to why we accept violence and what we can change. Based on a script made up by young people, you will have the chance to find possible answers. Spectators can become actors!
In the same place, at 6 p.m., you are invited to the film Stockholm (Spain, 2013) about two young people who get from flirt to the harsh reality of fighting for control, psychological games and conflicts between sexes. Provided by Transilvania Film, Stockholm, is an opportunity to observe and discuss relationships between young people. Event for people over 15.
The Festival comes to an end on Sunday, with the contest “Gender Treasure Hunt” taking part in the Big Square. To win the prizes, the teams in the contest will have to go through some litmus tests which will shatter their prejudices about girls and boys, test their skills and raise the challenge of reversing roles: masculine vs. feminine. The registration form can be accessed from here
All the events are free of charge.
The 11th edition of the Gender Equality Festival is co-funded by Sibiu Local County and the Sibiu City Hall through the Community Agenda; the competition “Unlearning Violence” is funded by the Sibiu Community Foundation with funds raised through the 2016 Sibiu Semi marathon.
www.aleg-romania.eu www.facebook.com/festivalulegalitatiidegen
