Building Bridges Toolkit
The Toolkit was designed to collect and share the know-how on voluntary projects involving people seeking or who have recently found refuge, as well as raising awareness on forced migration in general. The collection of guidelines, methods and case studies is non-exhaustive and should simply foster your own inspiration and support you in implementing projects on the topic. The creation of the Toolkit has been driven by the ever bigger need of the international SCI network to exchange best practices on projects in the field. It was coordinated by SCI Switzerland with the support of Útilapu Hungary. Its existence wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the Mercator Foundation Switzerland and the active contribution of the Building Bridges working group and a number of SCI branches.
METHODS AND TOOLS serve to support your work on the topic of refugees and migration with different target groups.
WORK AND BABIES
Human rights and social justice
Time needed: 90 min
Objectives / aim: Role-play dealing with reproductive rights, gender and discrimination against women
Level of Difficulty: medium
Resources needed:
- A large sheet of paper, flip chart paper or board
- Space for small group work and role-play
- Propositions for the role-play, table and chairs, pen and paper
- Preparation: Copy the scenario onto a board or a large piece of paper or flipchart paper.
Number of participants: 10-25
This role-play aims to develop knowledge about women’s reproductive rights, attempts to make participants appreciate what it feels like to be discriminated against. Overall the goal is to promote equality, justice and responsibility
Steps:
- Explain that the activity involves a role-play about the issues of women’s reproductive rights at the workplace. Conduct a short brainstorm about women’s reproductive rights so participants understand the term.
- Divide the participants into small groups (maximum five people per group).
- Read out the following, which is the background scenario for the role-play:
”Maria has been unemployed for almost a year and is looking hard for a job. Ten days ago she went for an interview for her dream job – it was exactly what she was looking for! Everything went well and she was offered the position. The company asked her to have a meeting with Mr. XY, the employees officer in order to sign her contract. She had already discussed her duties and other job-related issues at the interview. Just as Maria was about to sign the contract, Mr. XY said that a condition of the job was that she signs a declaration that she will not have a baby for the next two years.» - In the small groups, give participants twenty minutes to decide on an ending for the story and to develop it into a role-play. The role-play should start with the meeting between Maria and Mr. XY and should not last more than five minutes.
- Invite each small group to present their role-play. Keep comments for the debriefing.
Tips:
- Depending on the group, you may wish to divide the participants into small groups that are either mixed or single-sex (that is groups of only males and groups of only females). Choosing single-sex groups often leads to more provocative endings and richer discussion.
- Participants may not be familiar with the term “reproductive rights” and you may need to help them with some ideas in order to get the broad picture. Try to draw people out on the following points: Reproductive rights include the right to:
- An enjoyable and fulfilling sexual relationship without fear of infection and disease.
- A choice whether or not to have children.
- A caring family planning service backed by a safe and empathetic abortion service that treats women with dignity and respect, and ensures privacy.
- Sex education
- Bear in mind that the debriefing question about if human rights were being violated may bring up the controversial issues about abortion and a woman’s right to choose, as opposed to the right of the foetus to life. This is a very important topic. It is also especially relevant to Human Rights Education, because it requires participants to be open-minded, to put aside stereotypes and pre-conceived opinions and to use their skills of critical thinking. It is a very good illustration of the inherent complexity of human rights. If the issue arises, you may like to consider taking it up at another time as a discussion in its own right
- Feel free to adapt the names of the characters to reflect common names in your country or the local community.
Links:
Reference / original source of the method:
Compass – Manual for Human Rights Education with Young People (CoE)
CONTRIBUTE!
You can share your experience, observations, tips and tricks, pictures etc. by uploading for instance a method or a case study to the Building Bridges Toolkit. As this Toolkit is a work in progress to which all involved parties are invited to contribute, we would also be very grateful for your support and contribution in order to inspire others to continue the work towards peace and intercultural understanding.