Kerry's Dr. Crokes support Game Changer project
Game Changer seeks to raise awareness and action through sport to tackle Domestic, Sexual, and Gender-Based Violence.
By John Harrington
Dr. Crokes GAA club in Kerry are putting their full weight behind the Game Changer project, a new partnership between the GAA, Ruhama, and White Ribbon Ireland, which seeks to raise awareness and action through sport to tackle Domestic, Sexual, and Gender-Based Violence.
Led by their very active Healthy Club Committee, they will encourage club members to access the recently launched Game Changer e-learning modules which address consent, bystander intervention, intimate image abuse and the harmful impacts of pornography, among other issues.
The four modules are free to access for players aged 14 and over as well as coaches, club officials and community organisers.
“We play fairly on the field but society doesn't always play fairly,” says Dr. Crokes Healthy Club Officer, Eamonn Fitzgerald.
“Our plan is to create an awareness that everyone is to be respected in life and abuse of any kind should not be tolerated.
“The other point I would make is that we have come a long way in Ireland but misogynistic Ireland is still there for a minority.
“This a timely initiative because our television screens every day are showing court cases and reports of domestic violence in particular.
“The big problem of course is that it's hidden and what happens behind closed doors is awful so it's important to do whatever we can.
“Human nature being what it is people do abuse other people, maybe not always intentionally, but we would hope that as far as Dr. Crokes is concerned it can be a safe place for inter-personal relationships of all kinds.
“That's why we were interested in this. We have a very active Healthy Club and the GameChanger Initiative will be very much a part of it.”
A Game Changer ‘Activation Day’ took place at Croke Park earlier this year, included a flag unfurling ceremony before the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final match between Meath and Donegal. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
One in four women in Ireland has been abused by a current or former partner and 52 per cent of Irish women have reported experiencing sexual violence in their lifetime.
Domestic, Sexual, and Gender-Based violence (DSGBV) can be a difficult topic to discuss but it’s crucial that we do so openly in this country otherwise those horrible statistics will never change and it will remain a silent epidemic.
“Whether it's domestic violence or violence of any other kind, we need to have a zero tolerance approach,” says Fitzgerald.
“People sometimes say they know something isn't right but they walk away. You may not deal with it directly yourself but it's important to know the relevant people in the club who could help in a difficult situation.
“We're very fortunate we have a lot of good people who are members of the club, many of them with professional expertise dealing with this topic."
The ultimate hope is that the ethos of Game Changer, which is a manifestation of the GAA’s Respect value, will eventually become embedded in every Gaelic games club in Ireland and in doing so will successfully challenge the societal culture of sexual violence in a very real and effective way.
“A GAA club really is an extended family,” says Fitzgerald. “In regular families you hope that there are good relationships and clubs can also promote this sort of supportive environment.
“It really came home to me when a prominent LGFA player said to me that she doesn't feel safe if she has to go off training on her own. The men can go off training on their own, but for women it's a different ball game.
“I suppose the biggest thing is awareness. The key word for us is respect for all and that the GAA is a safe place for inter-personal relationships.”
Pictured left to right at the launch of Game Changer in Croke Park were: Caitlin O'Reilly, DCU Camogie player, Jarlath Burns, GAA President, Helen McEntee TD, the then Minister for Justice, Sean Cooke, CEO Men’s Development Network, Brian Molloy, Camogie Association President, Frances Fitzgerald, Member of the Gender Equality Advisory Committee to the G7, Kai Harte, DCU footballer, Barbara Condon, CEO of Ruhama, Lyn Savage, LGFA National Development Manager, and Dr Stephanie O’Keefe, Director of Cuan.
If you’re a parent, then you’ll surely have experienced anxiety about the impact the internet and social media is having on children. Unfettered access to pornography is normalising graphic sexual behaviour and often gives an unrealistic and sometimes twisted view of what sexual relationships should look like.
In recent years there has also been an increasing level misogyny on social media due to high-profile ‘influencers’ spreading a toxic vision of what they believe it is to be a man.
“I was Principal of Killarney Community College so I would be very cognisant of the pressures that young people are under,” says Fitzgerald.
“Like it or not, the digital era is here and we have to make it as safe as we can and a place where people can enjoy themselves.
“And while it is highlighted very much with women, it isn't exclusive, it can be the other way around as well. I would have been very conscious of this in school as well, males too can suffer poor relationships and should always be respected in a safe place.
“The importance of being safe and being respected are the two key messages that we will be promoting because the reality is that all clubs at all times are not safe for all people.
“The club should be open enough that a person who feels unsafe can contact the relevant people.
“Very often with so much emphasis on playing games and trying to win cups there is a human story behind everything so we would hope we would be able to create that awareness again that everyone is respected and we allow for diversity and acceptance.”
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If you want to bring the Game Changer e-learning modules to your club, they can be accessed at https://learning.gaa.ie/gamechanger. Participants will need to register with the GAA’s learning platform Tobar to access the modules. For underage users, a consent form will be made available for parents to provide permission to access the site. This is handled strictly in accordance with GAA’s GDPR policies. Participants are issued with Game Changer digital badges upon completion of the modules.