A new series of powerful videos have been released directly targeted at men and boys in Greater Manchester calling on them to challenge sexual harassment.
It comes as part of the award-winning campaign from the Greater Manchester Mayor's Office, #IsThisOkay, which shines a light on the type of unwarranted behaviour many women have experienced across the city.
Over seven in ten women in the UK have experienced some form of sexual harassment in a public place, rising to four in five for 18-24 year-olds. Yet only six in ten men think gender-based violence is a problem for women in Greater Manchester.
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In December 2021, Andy Burnham launched a campaign aimed at men and boys in the city, calling for them to discuss why this type of behaviour is not okay.
It encourages people to call it out if they see their friends, colleagues or family members demonstrating these behaviours. The campaign is part of Greater Manchester’s 10-year Gender-Based Violence Strategy published in September 2021.
As part of the latest phase of the campaign, now in its third year, a story told across three short episodes has been released to show the types of behaviour faced by women and girls - and how men and young boys can see the problem and challenge it or change.
The story follows a young woman on her way home being harassed by a young man and when she tells her young male housemate about her experience and how it made her feel, he is able to recognise the problem and challenge his friend on his behaviour later on in the story.
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: "The everyday behaviours that women and girls face must be challenged and changed and that is why we are continuing our #IsThisOK? campaign into a third year.
"It’s so important that we do all we can to show men and boys what women and girls face, such as the constant worry of looking over your shoulder or being harassed when you are just trying to do the simplest of things like go for a jog, meet up with friends, enjoy a night out or get home.
"As this behaviour is so engrained in society, some people cannot even see these types of behaviour when it is in front of them and we have to do better. This series of videos is targeted directly at men, lads and boys to help them understand how women feel everyday, and how changing your behaviour and crucially challenging others can make the world a fairer place.
"Pulling up your friend, colleague or family member for their behaviour towards women might seem daunting, but it’s nothing compared to the intimidation faced by women every day. You can be the positive change."
As part of the same campaign, a podcast series will be launched at a later date, which will bring men with different viewpoints together to have an open discussion about behaviour towards women and how men can come together to tackle gender-based violence.
The first phase of the campaign, which launched on December 16 2021, has so far received more than 5.3 million views on social media and won two CIPR awards, including Best Public Sector campaign for the North West region.
Kate Green, Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester for Policing, Crime, Criminal Justice and Fire, said: "This is a really powerful and important campaign that captures the reality of life for women and girls here in Greater Manchester and across the world.
"The story across our three videos shows a young woman just trying to make her way home safely, but she is followed and harassed by a young man. Her male friend is unable to see the issue straight away and that is a big part of the problem – helping men recognise and understand the unacceptable behaviour that women have always faced and how that makes us feel.
"Gender-based violence should not be inevitable, but it is, because for too long behaviour towards women has gone unchallenged and even accepted. Greater Manchester has always been a place proud to drive change and we’re calling on all men to challenge those who think it is acceptable to harass, intimidate or abuse women."
You can watch the films on Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s YouTube channel.
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