Comic Relief has today announced a new multi-million pound UK funding programme that will use the power of sport and mentorship to promote positive masculinity, healthier relationships and gender equality among boys and young men. Backed by former Lioness Mary Earps, the initiative will help challenge harmful norms and behaviours including toxic masculinity, misogyny and coercion.
The fund announcement follows a summer of widespread, important conversation about the urgent need to tackle the root causes of violence against women and girls, sparked by the extraordinary global reaction to Netflix’s Emmy award-winning Adolescence.
Over two million women in the UK are estimated to be affected by male violence each year1. Recently declared a national emergency2, the epidemic of violence demands new, bold solutions and early engagement with boys and young men to create a better society where violence against women and girls is unthinkable.
The new £3.9 million, five-year programme will support seven specialist community-led organisations across London and the West Midlands. Organisations will use sports and physical activity like football, cricket and netball, to help implement early interventions that encourage boys and young men to become role models and leaders while also championing a culture of respect and healthy masculinity. Participants will also take part in tailored education, mentoring and peer-led sessions to build skills that can be used to challenge harmful norms and behaviours that drive violence against women and girls in their own communities.
Comic Relief is proud to be stepping up and taking an innovative approach by uniting its long-standing commitment to gender justice, with over 25 years funding experience, and with its proven expertise as one of the UK’s leading Sport for Change funders having funded over 500 projects over the last two decades.
The organisations that are part of this new programme are:
Beyond Equality, (London / West Midlands) – working with men and boys, the UK leading gender-transformative charity will use group workshops to rethink masculinities, promote gender justice, and build safer, more inclusive communities. They will deploy classroom and on-pitch learning programmes across 11 English Football League (EFL) football clubs
Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid (Birmingham / Solihull) – partnering with Warwickshire Cricket Foundation, the charity will use cricket to promote healthy relationships and gender equality, and continue to support women and children affected by domestic abuse
The Change Foundation, (London / West Midlands) – sport and mentoring will be used to support marginalised young people, focusing on health, skills, and employment to improve their futures
Fight for Peace (London) – will deliver early intervention programmes that combine boxing and martial arts, mentoring, and a personal development curriculum to challenge harmful norms and build their confidence
Football Beyond Borders (London / West Midlands) – will support disengaged young people through a football-themed social and emotional learning curriculum, to promote healthy masculinities and tackle gender-based violence across 60+ schools in the area
Respect, (London) – using sport as a hook, the charity trains coaches and youth workers to deliver Dating Detox, an 11-session programme that helps boys aged 11-18 to understand respect, consent, and boundaries
Roshni (Birmingham) – will support Black and minoritised women and young people affected by VAWG through trauma-informed, multilingual services, including refuge, advocacy, and outreach
To help shine a light on this important issue, Comic Relief has teamed up with Lioness legend and current PSG goalkeeper, Mary Earps, who supports the urgent need for more funding in this area.
Mary Earps said: “Violence against women and girls is an epidemic – harassment, toxic masculinity, misogyny, coercion, anxiety, fear, it keeps growing. I’ve been playing sport my whole life, and I know that from the pitch to the playground, sport has the unique ability to bring people together. Comic Relief is using the power of sport to reach young boys, to support and educate them, and build allies to challenge harmful behaviour. This work will create strong role models in our communities, promote healthy attitudes, and build a safer world for women and girls so everyone can thrive.”
With 3,000 recorded offences of violence every day – a 37% increase in the past 5 years3 – there has never been a more pressing need for intervention and support
Samir Patel, CEO at Comic Relief, said: “Toxic masculinity, misogyny and violence against women and girls have been at the forefront of public debate this year, in part due to the huge success of Netflix’s Adolescence, which has shown the powerful role pop culture can play in bringing attention to the most pressing issues we face today.
“With violence against women and girls at crisis levels in the UK, and public concern at an all-time high, we are proud to launch our first ever programme that uses sport and education to work with boys and girls in their formative years, to promote healthier relationships, positive masculinity and gender equality.
“By bringing together young people, teachers, community leaders and role models, we aim build a future where girls and women feel safer, and where boys and men are supported to be part of the change.”
