Speak Up! Young Women Share Stories of Gender, Identity, and Violence
Traditional patriarchal and cultural norms in South Africa, coupled with the enduring legacy of the systemic, state-sanctioned violence of the Apartheid era, has fueled a society with one of the world’s highest rates of sexual and gender-based violence against adolescent girls and young women. Global NGO Grassroot Soccer leverages the power of soccer to educate, inspire, and mobilize South African youth to overcome their greatest health challenges, live healthier, more productive lives, and be agents for change in their communities. The organization works with young adult mentors to incorporate sport in dynamic, interactive lessons that provide a safe space for engaging adolescents, deconstructing harmful gender norms, preventing violence, and encouraging participants to seek sexual and reproductive health services.
In March 2016, Silence Speaks partnered with Grassroot Soccer in Cape Town, to lead a five-day storytelling and participatory media workshop with an amazing group of female mentors. We brought participants together for a group Story Circle; guided them through the process of writing and recording short scripts; and taught them the basics of photography, videography, and visual ethics. Next, we coordinated a location photo and video shoot to support participants in documenting their stories and guided them through computer tutorials that enabled them to edit their stories as short videos. These stories have been shared at conferences and other events focused on gender, sport, and health, and the storytellers worked closely with Grassroot Soccer to lead community-based story screenings and story sharing sessions, as a way of bringing visibility to young women’s voices and creating safe spaces for their peers to respond and join the call for women’s rights across South Africa. View selected examples below and find more on our Silence Speaks Storytelling YouTube Channel.
