Young people step up to challenge misogyny and improve safety for women and girls in Youth Council podcast
Kingston and Richmond Youth Council has worked with local young people to produce a short podcast series exploring the challenges of being a young man and tackling misogyny.
The podcast explores ‘toxic masculinity’ and encourages young people to discuss issues that can lead to misogynistic or sexist behaviour or violence against women. Young people discuss what changes can be made to address these issues at their root causes.
Listen to this podcast on the Youth Council’s Spotify page.
The Youth Council is coordinated by Kingston Council’s children’s services provider Achieving for Children to empower young people to share their views and engage in politics. Kingston is one of the safest boroughs in London and the council is committed to making it even safer. Engaging young people in conversations exploring challenging issues and the safety of women and girls is a key part of this work.
Michael Connors, Youth Engagement Lead at Achieving for Children, said:
"Redefining Masculinity Podcast is a clear call for men to be better and step up to end violence against women.
“The podcast is a powerful resource for anyone working with men and boys as it explores how masculinity is underpinned and defined by different values and behaviours, behaviours that sometimes become extreme and make masculinity toxic."
Making the borough even safer for everyone is a top priority for Kingston Council. It has recently launched a survey to find out more about perceptions of safety across town centres and neighbourhoods. It will help identify any issues and give useful insight into how they can be addressed. Share your thoughts in the Community Safety Survey on the council’s Let’s Talk Portal.
The survey builds on the council’s ongoing work to improve safety. At the South West London Safer Streets conference last year the borough launched its Women’s Night Safety Charter to support women to feel safer when out in the evening. The event also saw the launch of the #StepUpSWLondon campaign to encourage men and boys to take an active stand against unacceptable behaviour towards women and girls. Watch the #StepUpSWLondon campaign video.
Kingston Council has recently published the Safer Kingston Partnership Plan for 2024-2029. You can find out about this and all the work the council is undertaking with partners to make Kingston an even safer borough to live, work and study on the Community Safety pages.