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Description
Women and men’s experience differ, therefore public engagement of women with various social backgrounds is necessary. Diversity of opinion (and representation of various social groups) results in more democratic and fair decision-making. The project reacts to young women’s low civic participation in Czechia’s structurally disadvantaged regions. The aim is to make young women familiar with the Norwegian concept of master-suppression techniques in order to strengthen their critical thinking, self-esteem and self-consciousness, boost their motivation and courage to engage in public life.
Summary of project results
The project responded to the low civic engagement of young women in structurally disadvantaged regions of the Czech Republic. Based on the Norwegian concept of domination techniques, the aim was to strengthen critical thinking, increase self-awareness and self-awareness of young women''s own abilities and give them motivation and courage for civic engagement.
The project focused on strengthening the critical thinking and civic capacities of 60 women aged 18-29 living in the Karlovy Vary, Ústí nad Labem, Hronov and Moravian-Silesian regions. In each region, an intensive experiential 3-day educational "camp" for young women focused on strengthening civic skills and critical thinking (detecting misinformation, argumentation, negotiation, identifying and defending against manipulative behaviour, self-defence). It also included peer networking and informal exchange of experiences with inspiring publicly active women from the regions, which motivated the young women to further engage in local public affairs. The training camps were followed by a longer-term collaboration with the alumnae to both record and evaluate how they put the acquired skills into practice (feminist motivational diary and focus groups) and to raise awareness of the problem and possible solutions through the experiences of specific women among the general public (Theatre of the Oppressed and Instagram campaign #youarenotalone), and thus ultimately to raise the profile of unacceptable manipulative behaviour that is often behind women''s lower self-esteem and low participation in public life.
The project strengthened the citizenship and critical thinking skills of a total of 60 young women aged 18-29 in structurally disadvantaged regions and increased their motivation to civic engagement. The main contribution was a comprehensive approach to civic education based on the long experience of the participating organisations and the inclusion of an innovative Norwegian concept of domination techniques, which had not been part of civic education in the Czech environment before. Last but not least, the project strengthened the capacity of 3 employees of the Forum 50%.