Our partnership with the Enough campaign highlights how behaviours that might seem normal can cross a line.
The idea behind Switching Tactics
A powerful video of a football coach giving a team talk has been released as part of the campaign, which may change the way you think about these behaviours, and it’s got people talking.
The video opens with a coach delivering a speech in a locker room filled with young male football players, who are gearing up for their next game. He starts by telling his players that with just three points to the top of the league, they need to scrub up on some defensive tactics. He lists a bunch of tactics, including checking surroundings and not letting others drift off alone, before asking the players if they know who else uses these tactics. To the shock of the team, in walks a group of women that they know, and the mood immediately shifts.
The coach tells the boys that while the tactics he just listed might be ones they use on the pitch, they’re also ones that women and girls regularly use to feel safe. The women go on to share their experiences of walking outside alone: scanning their environment, calling a friend to help them feel safer, and texting a friend to let them know they got home safely. In a particularly powerful moment, the coach asks the boys if any of them have ever experienced feeling unsafe in the same way as the women standing in front of them, and they admit that they haven’t.
The point of the video isn’t to call anyone out - it's to prompt reflection around the harms women can face, or worry about facing, while just going about their lives.
When everyday behaviour crosses the line
One of the most important messages behind the Enough campaign is that some of the things that loads of people brush off can actually make women and girls feel uncomfortable, and even threatened. These things might look like repeatedly messaging a girl who isn’t responding; constantly checking where she is or who she’s with; invading her personal space; or monitoring or restricting her online activity or access to her phone. These things might seem harmless, but they are all abuse.
Knowing where the line is, is the first step towards preventing abusive behaviour – which helps contribute towards a safer world for women and girls - one which is free from the fear of violence.
If you’re not sure where the line is, the Enough campaign has made a handy tool that shows how behaviours can contribute to harassment or harm. To understand the signs of abuse, take the Crossing the Line quiz at https://enough.campaign.gov.uk/do-you-know-whats-crossing-the-line
Because the first step towards not crossing the line is knowing where it is. Enough. End violence against women and girls.
Thomas Thorn