HITTING THE MARK IN WORKING WITH YOUNG WOMEN >> Bullseye> > A resource for working with young women by YouthAction Northern Ireland Equality Work with Young Women 2021 HITTING THE MARK IN WORKING WITH YOUNG WOMEN 3 >>> Bullseye> What is this? This logo will appear throughout, Previous edition (2014): Youth Action Northern Ireland highlighting worksheets and other resources Latest edition (2021): Annette Feldmann and Dr. Martin McMullan. you might find useful to photocopy. With support from Roisin Kelly, Emma Johnston, Dearbhaila Flynn and Sarah McGennity. 4 HITTING THE MARK IN WORKING WITH YOUNG WOMEN >> Bullseye> >Contents Hear the voices of Quadrant 2 - About us 24 Quadrant 4 - About action 66 young women 5 A job for the boys 24 Creating your own youth campaign 66 Alternative alphabet 28 Message in a bottle 69 Building on history 7 Sugar and spice 30 Create a manifesto of key asks 69 Using this resource 8 Ken and Barbie 31 Pitch your idea 69 Double standards game 32 Preparing to protest 70 Don’t do drunk what you wouldn’t do sober 34 Getting started 9 Resources and links 71 Journey of life - gendered lens 37 Understanding sex, gender, stereotypes Sing us a song 38 Other YouthAction resources 72 and prejudice 9 Three of a kind 39 Preparation for the facilitator 10 What’s in a name? 41 The dartboard model 11 The flower and the football 42 Who does what? 43 Quadrant 1 - About me 13 Quadrant 3 - About women 45 Pizza slice worksheet 13 Contracting 15 Race of life 46 This is me... Facebook 15 Fix me, love me 48 Group juggle 15 Owning your body 51 Geeting to know you and me 16 Points of view 54 Lifemaps 17 The F word 55 Journey of life 22 Quiz 57 Journey of life (rocking chair) 22 Life swap worldwide 58 Many masks 23 A century of women 60 What has feminism ever done for you? 64 HITTING THE MARK IN WORKING WITH YOUNG WOMEN 5 HEAR THE VOICES OF YOUNG WOMEN Bullseye is a resource to support work with young women. Young women have many different interests and This has really engage in youth programmes for a variety of reasons. helped my confidence Therefore, youth work can offer young women a wide to apply for jobs. range of learning opportunities. By participating in youth programmes and through use of this resource, young women can: Even getting away from • Boost their self-confidence. the child for a couple of • Explore their interests and try new things. hours as well, just to relax. • Develop a sense of belonging to a group. I have had all these ideas for • Have a break from everyday routines. • Learn to think about the world differently. such a long time and now • Speak up on issues that are important to them. I get the chance to do them. • Engage in action with others to create change. To give the reader a sense of what young women can gain from taking part in these activities, we have gathered a The project has made few different voices of young women. This is what they have to say about what they have learnt or how they have me look for something changed, in their own words. positive in each day even if some days you have to look harder. By doing these programmes it has helped me meet people from all different backgrounds. 6 HITTING THE MARK IN WORKING WITH YOUNG WOMEN These programmes are great fun, you meet people from different backgrounds and do lots of interesting stuff. We challenge discrimination faced by young women. It also supported me in talking to other young women about many of these issues and to see many of the barriers that I face from a >>> Bullseye> political perspective. It was great challenging myself as a person and also as a group. The programme has helped me develop my confidence, and The different parts of the when I see inequalities, I’m Bullseye programme have able to speak out about them. helped me in different areas of my life. HITTING THE MARK IN WORKING WITH YOUNG WOMEN 7 BUILDING ON HISTORY YouthAction Northern Ireland who are most excluded from resources and society to try A major review of the youth sector was undertaken to improve their access. The team works to raise young in 1986 amid concerns about the lack of participation women’s expectations of what the world has to offer YouthAction Northern Ireland is a membership-based among young women in society in general, and the them and generate the skills to achieve these. The team youth work and arts charity with over a 75 year history of youth sector in particular. It became increasingly evident challenges traditional expectations of young women working with young people to tackle inequalities in their that young women were not using the service to the which deny the potential of and the opportunities for lives; improve their life chances; inspire them as activists; same extent as young men and when they did attend, young women. and contribute to flourishing communities in a peaceful they were often on the periphery of the activity. and shared society. YouthAction NI strategically works to redress imbalances Links were developed with the University of Ulster and and inequalities facing young women through the Our vision is that young people are happy, healthy and the Education and Library Boards to develop training development of training, networking, developing models hopeful. for youth workers. Accredited courses were developed of effective practice, research and influencing policy. for women, such as “Women in Management” and the Partnerships with statutory, voluntary and community Equality Work with Young “Towards Equality” course. Which was designed for both organisations have been forged to promote and develop female and male workers towards anti-sexist youth work young women’s work alongside specific training. Women (EWYW) practice. Furthermore, funding was secured for research into the “Equality of Opportunity for Girls and Young “YouthAction Northern Ireland has a proud history of For over thirty five years the organisation has been Women in the Full-Time Sector of the Northern Ireland addressing gender equality. From 1944 as the ‘Federation developing work to improve the equality of participation Youth Service” which was presented in 1990. of Girls Clubs’ to 1990 ‘YouthAction Northern Ireland’, our of young women. Young women have been under- organisation has recognised and responded to the many represented in the youth sector and have been The findings from this confirmed the scale of a male- challenges facing young women. The roots of inequality discriminated against in a range of personal, social and orientated and male-dominated Youth Service and found lie in how societies are organised, laws are set, economies economic settings. that girls began to leave provision as early as thirteen function and ideologies are shaped. Addressing these years old. A series of recommendations for policy, inequalities through increasing opportunities, building In 1978, after a conference on work with young women, practice and training provided a strategy not only for life skills and tackling disadvantage remains firmly at the Northern Ireland Association of Youth Clubs (now YouthAction NI but also for the statutory and voluntary core of what we do. Tackling gendered expectations and YouthAction Northern Ireland) produced a resource Youth Sector. behaviours is pivotal through the panned and purposeful specifically dedicated to programme ideas for work with youth work intervention. The ‘Bullseye’ resource has been young women. This was entitled ‘Waiting our Turn’ and In the mid-1980’s the Gender Equality Unit of YouthAction updated for 2021 and provides a mechanism for young was a direct response to the low participation of young NI was born and EU Funding helped to sustain this work women to recognise their abilities and potential to create women in youth clubs. Between 1978 and 1984, work throughout the 1990’s. Work with young mothers and personal and community change and to contribute to with girls and young women became a priority of the young women who identify as other than heterosexual wider societal changes. The resource can be used by many organisation. Conferences for girls and young women were central to the work at YouthAction. to advance gender equality and create a society, in which were held annually and training, support, resources and women and men enjoy the same opportunities, rights and publications were created for those working with young Equality Work with young women (EWY W) at YouthAction obligations, in all spheres of life.” women. In 1984, funding was received from the is based on a feminist ethos and has developed practice (Professor Ann Marie Gray, Chairperson ~ YouthAction Department of Education for the first training post to rooted in the principles of informal education, teaching Northern Ireland). develop work with girls and young women. and learning. The team works with those young women 8 HITTING THE MARK IN WORKING WITH YOUNG WOMEN USING THIS RESOURCE This resource is for those who wish to raise the profile We have adopted a ‘Bullseye - hitting the mark’ and standards of working with young women. In giving framework to maintain our focus on the centre point greater attention to work with girls and young women, of each individual young woman’s life. From this centre we hope to address the interests and needs of this we work outwards to explore the various spheres of largely invisible grouping. Gendered stereotypes and influence connecting young women. Having a gendered expectations on the development of girls and young lens and focus on the power of gender conditioning is women has been under-represented in youth work core throughout the framework.