Schools to Promote Gender Equality

A digital game resource for young people to promote gender equality and to tackle gender-based and sexual abuse
and harassment.

Description of the project

Equality between women and men and non-discrimination are core values of the European Union, and are firmly embedded in the Treaties of the European Union, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and secondary legislation. Despite this, gender inequality persists in most European countries at the level of government representation, institutional decision-making, remuneration, division of domestic labour and childcare, and gender-based and sexual
violence and abuse.

Online sexual harassment and abuse is an especially urgent issue for young people, for whom digital spaces are key sites of communication, identity formation, self-expression and sexual interaction. Gender-based and sexual abuse, harassment and bullying thus pose a significant threat to young people’s digital rights and to (digital) democracy more generally.

Main project aims

The GeGame consortium has developed a digital resource called GenTOPIA to tackle these issues. We are a consortium of teachers, game designers and academic experts in gender, gender-based violence, serious games, game design and education studies. The project is funded under the ERASMUS+ programme, and involves partners from Spain, Ireland, Hungary, Turkey, Romania and Portugal.

GenTOPIA is a game-based educational resource aimed at students (14 -16 years) in second-level education. It involves a series of interactive activities which address gender stereotypes, consent, digital safety, street harassment, coercive control, non-consensual image sharing, and homophobic bullying. The resource is designed for teachers who deliver subjects relating to issues of personal development, digital safety, gender equality and relationships and sexuality education. Working with a range of interactive multimedia tools, teachers can help their students to tackle the prejudices which facilitate inequality, discrimination and abuse, thus promoting equality and inclusivity, and empowering students to live full
and equal lives.

THE KEY OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT ARE:

Digital tools

The production of a new and innovative digital game resource for young people to foster equality and tackle gender-based and sexual abuse and harassment.

Promotion of values and behaviours

The GenTOPIA game and multimedia handbook tackle gender inequality in its various forms, starting with casual sexism and moving along the continuum of inequality to address a range of injustices and harms, from discrimination in sport to sexual violence and consent.

The GenTOPIA digital game and Multimedia Handbook tackle the issue of sexual and gender-based violence by addressing a wide range of societal attitudes and norms, which perpetrate inequality and harmful stereotypes. In addition to improving equality and inclusivity within schools, the impact of this resource extends beyond the educational context to society generally: because it tackles the root causes of gender violence, inequality and gender-based bullying, GenTOPIA will have long-lasting societal effects by transforming the attitudes and prejudices that give rise to these behaviours and power imbalances.

Although the gameverse is fictional, GenTOPIA is based on realistic scenarios and involves a series of interactive activities, which address gender stereotypes, consent, digital safety, street harassment, coercive control, non-consensual image sharing, and homophobic bullying. The game context is a SIMS type world, segmented into 5 different aspects of daily life or areas – school, sport, social life, social media and home.

Students will have access to a multimedia resource which encourages them to (re)consider gender-normative roles, stereotyping, power imbalances and issues of consent at an age where these issues are relevant and being negotiated in their peer groups. The Multimedia Handbook guides teachers through the game and provides additional resources and activities. The impact of this resource extends beyond the educational context to society generally: because it tackles the root causes of gender violence, inequality and gender-based bullying, GenTOPIA will have long-lasting societal effects by transforming the attitudes and prejudices that give rise to these behaviours and power imbalances.

Equality between women and men and non-discrimination are core values of the European Union, and are firmly embedded in the Treaties of the European Union, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and secondary legislation. However, other factors – ethnicity, social class, ability, sexuality – intersect with gender in complex ways. This project adopts an intersectional approach by espousing a concept of gender equality that is also inclusive of other categories.

Project target group

This project is designed for students in second-level education between the ages of 14 and 16. It is also designed for teachers who deliver transversal subjects and/or those relating to issues of personal development, digital safety, gender equality and relationships and sexuality education.