Protesting with others about something that you object to and that you want to change can take many forms. Protests can be local or global and take place online or offline. They are often a mixture of both.
In March 2015 young people from across Wales led a piece of direct action to ensure the Welsh Government kept its promise to prioritise education in its prevention measures to address violence against girls and women. Supported by Citizens Cymru, over 40 young people delivered personalised Valentine Cards to every Welsh Assembly Member which included three hand-written statements collected from over 1000 students in school assemblies on why they needed a real relationships education. The cards were sealed with a lipstick kiss to connect to the Red My Lips campaign (a worldwide protest to raise awareness of sexual violence and victim blaming). After the action, a twitter campaign followed. Many Assembly Members from across Wales tweeted their support of the campaign and praised young people’s creativity.
Inspired by the youth-led Valentine Card Activism in Wales for better healthy relationships education, over 120 children, aged 11-12, from 10 school classes in Oulu, Finland designed their own creative activism. They posted 210 valentine cards to each member of the Finnish Parliament, and included anonymised examples of sexual harassment to let politicians know that the #MeToo campaign affected children of their age.
@wegiveconsent was a Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr campaign led by two Year 8 students from Toronto, Canada to get the topic of consent in the Ontario Health Education Curriculum.
Girlguiding UK have organised campaigns for a ‘better sex education’. Find out how you can get involved to take action.
OBJECT campaigns for better representation of women and girls in the media.
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