Youth groups help address mental health, gender-based violence amid pandemic

As the world faced unprecedented change due to the spread of COVID-19, United Nations agencies launched an Australian government-supported programme to mitigate the risks that the pandemic poses to the physical and mental well-being of vulnerable women, children, and adolescents, and to strengthen the gender-based violence (GBV) systems to respond to all forms of violence.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World Health Organization (WHO) jointly implemented Project BRAVE (Building COVID-safe Responses And Voices for Equity) from 2022  to 2023.

Implemented in different parts of the country, the joint programme engaged key stakeholders to ensure that mental health and psychosocial support are embedded in health and social services up to the community level to make them more accessible.

Realizing the importance of community-based interventions in creating lasting impact and leveraging on the energy and creativity of the youth, through UNFPA’s implementing partners Coalition Against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific (CATW-AP) and Philippine Mental Health Association (PMHA), start-up funds were given to 20 youth-led groups across the country to implement innovative strategies that raise awareness about mental health and gender-based violence.

Learn more about how these youth groups used the support that they received to help their fellow youth and other vulnerable groups:

• I Am Legacy

I Am Legacy is a youth-led organization based in Negros Occidental that advocates social awareness on gender-based violence and mental health among the youth and GBV survivors. The youth group recently conducted, in partnership with CATW-AP, its “2nd Youth E-Camp for Mental Health and Ending Gender-Based Violence” that trained youth volunteers through online workshops on leadership, human rights, gender sensitivity, addressing gender-based violence, survivor-centered approach and trauma-informed care as part of a mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) program. The Youth E-Camp also reached out to the students of John B. Lacson Colleges Foundation for their in-person community education, “We Men for Women.”

• Maguindanao Youth Community Development (MYCD)

The Maguindanao Youth Community Development (MYCD) is a community-based youth group that is composed of in- and out-of-school volunteers from Mamasapano, Maguindanao del Sur. MYCD recently implemented their gender-based violence awareness-raising project: KATIYALINTAD, which means Katiyakap (protection) and Kalilintad (peace) in Maguindanaon. The project’s main objective was to educate young women in the community about gender-based violence, the practice of child marriage in the Muslim region, and their rights to legal protection through a series of mentoring and learning sessions. In cooperation with eight (8) barangays and Islamic schools in the municipality, the Katiyalintad Project successfully engaged with 200 participants, majority of whom were students and adolescents. 

• Men for Equality

Men for Equality (MFE) is a group of young advocates of gender equality and women’s rights from Negros Occidental. Through their recently concluded project “Men for Equality with Mental Health Camp,” MFE conducted workshops on how to better report, address, and prevent issues of gender-based violence and economic marginalization in rural areas. As part of their advocacy, the youth group holds community leadership, mental health and psychosocial support lectures.

• Pansigedan Advocacy Cooperative (PAC)

Cordillera-based Pansigedan Advocacy Cooperative brought together 79 advocates from community-based organizations to support efforts against gender-based violence. Their project, called “Project PAIR: PadLi, capAbility building, clinical diagnosis and Intervention Referral system,” highlighted three key components for community outreach: (1) PadLi or Pansigedan di ili (for the common good), a psychotherapy clinic which offered free mental health assessment and services to locals from far-flung areas of Cordillera; (2) Community capAbility building, which was done through psychoeducation, empowerment, and training for frontline service; and (3) Intervention Referral System, which aimed to make the process of referrals and assessments faster and more efficient. The community outreach project intended to make mental health and psychosocial support services more accessible to the residents of La Trinidad, Benguet.

• Sowing Legacy Movement (SLMI)

The Sowing Legacy Movement, Inc. (SLMI) is a Bacolod City-based network of committed individuals working together to bring positive change in society. The organization offers scholarships, livelihood programs, and advocacy-building activities. Through their project “UBUNTU,” SLMI raised awareness about gender equality and inclusivity, women’s rights, and mental health and well-being. The project involved raising awareness through social media and online workshops, which tackled economic marginalization of women and the LGBTQIA+ community; mental health of the youth and gender-based violence survivors; and laws addressing gender discrimination and gender-based violence, such as the Safe Spaces Act, Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act, and Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

• Perxx Commune

All-women percussionist group Perxx Commune wants to create safe spaces and creative communities where people can express themselves freely and heal through musical activities. Together with Pandi Empowered Survivors - Youth, Perxx Commune started a project called “Drum Healing Initiative to Promote Young Women’s Self-Esteem and Mental Health and Prevent Gender-Based Violence (GBV),” which encouraged GBV survivors to release their emotional and psychological stresses, as well as find a welcoming space and trustworthy network of survivors. The drum sessions inspired the participants to further pursue music through their respective school bands.

• Pandi Empowered Survivors - Youth

Pandi Empowered Survivors - Youth is a group of young people from Bulacan who are survivors of various forms of violence against women and children (VAWC). Majority of them are children of survivors who are members of their parent organization Pandi Empowered Survivors. The youth group was able to build a support system for survivors in neighboring barangays and schools. They use creative forms of information dissemination, including info cards and flyers. Some members were reached through their hotline, which enabled them to report, share, and talk about their struggles with violence. The support group project also held psychological first aid trainings for survivors.

• Teatro Balagtas

Teatro Balagtas of Pandacan is a youth theater company from Manila that hones its members’ theater skills to raise social awareness. As a collective, it imparts meaningful social messages through theater performances. In collaboration with CATW-AP, Teatro Balagtas produced “Ang Kuwento ni Babae,” which tells the stories and struggles of gender-based violence (GBV) survivors. The premiere and succeeding runs involved allied organizations that advocate women and children’s rights and empowerment against GBV and anti-poverty initiatives. The play has extended runs until August 2023.

• Youth Claim Cebu

Youth Claim - Cebu is a youth organization that advocates for social and economic equality and justice, with members from all walks of life – working and non-working, in- and out-of-school youth. For their project “Safe Spaces Campaign,” the youth group participated in several activities and events to expand the reach of their advocacy on gender sensitivity, sexual harassment, gender-based violence, and urban poverty. Among these engagements were: the Gender Sensitivity Training (GST), the Anti-Sexual Harassment Education for High School students, a women’s march which was attended by numerous civil societies and allied organizations, a Cebu-wide cosplay event and a Radyo Ronda show which further amplified the project’s advocacy across and outside Cebu.

• Linangan Youth Organization

The Bulacan-based youth group, Linangan Youth Organization, serves as an alternative training center for young people who share the same passion for volunteerism and social advocacies. Linangan’s project “Integrated Response of Digital and Traditional Approach to contribute in the Elimination of Gender-Based Violence in the Communities” allowed volunteers to undergo Gender Sensitivity Training (GST) and Mental Health community outreach. Despite having a hybrid setup, the project reached 5 villages with a total of 109 attendees, some of whom were parents who were grateful for the experience.

• Lesbians for Rights (LFR)

The Lesbians for Rights (LFR) is an organization that aims to strengthen the Filipino lesbian, bisexual and transgender sector in Metro Manila, as well as to attain social and economic access regardless of class, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE). The organization’s “Lesbians for Rights Members’ Capacity Building and Awareness Sessions for Youth & Students on Gender-Based Violence, Mental Health & SOGIE” project included lectures on anti-trafficking law, GBV, mental health awareness and women empowerment. The project also became an avenue for LFR members to find support from each other through their Survivor’s Testimony activity and their efforts with Samahang Kababaihan based in Quezon City.

• Youth for Culture and the Arts Organization (YCAO)

The Iloilo-based Youth for Culture and the Arts Organization (YCAO) seeks the participation of the youth in creative writing and meaningful performing arts which encourage self-expression. YCAO is one of the youth groups that advocates gender-based violence prevention and mental health support for victim-survivors through their project: “Health-related advocacy to Understand self-Growth of the Youth for the Arts and Wellness” or HUGYAW.

HUGYAW was able to provide an avenue for students of Tubungan National High School to learn about the impact of gender-based violence on the mental health of the youth.. HUGYAW held several writing workshops that featured the topics of mental well-being, prevention of violence against women, and SOGIE.

• Young Leaders’ Movement (YLM)

The Young Leaders’ Movement (YLM) is a group of youth leaders and advocates from various local civil organizations in General Santos City, Mindanao. The group aims to empower and educate young people about gender rights and other social issues. As part of its advocacy, YLM created gender-based violence and mental health support groups in 6 villages in their city, in collaboration with Mindanao Youth for Mental Health (MYMH) and Federation of Student Organizations (FESO). The support group reached individuals who were interested in the topics of women’s rights and roles and the accessibility of psychological first aid in rural communities. The youth project also garnered media coverage from radio stations DZRH and DXCP. 

• Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA)

The Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) is one of the pioneers of contemporary Filipino Theater in the country. As an educational institution, PETA has trained young artists and non-artists to integrate different social advocacies in their curriculum. In collaboration with CATW-AP, PETA’s Young Artists Core recently launched a “Participatory Workshop on Gender-Based Violence and Mental Health” that aimed to create a sustainable mental health intervention campaign addressing the issues of GBV. The campaign started with the training of artist-teachers on women’s rights and GBV through theater production and advocacy work. This was done with the help of GBV survivors and their willingness to share their experiences and recovery.

The main highlight of the campaign was the “Kaya Mo, Kaya Ko: Community Participatory Theater Workshop on Women’s Rights and Gender-Based Violence,” which was organized by the organization in partnership with the Gender and Development (GAD) office and the Local Council of Women of the Pasig City local government unit. The workshop involved discussions, exercises, and film screenings about gender stereotyping and violence in various settings, predominantly in school and online. The project reached a total of 61 students from several public high schools.

• Sangguniang Kabataan of Puerto Princesa

The Sangguniang Kabataan of Puerto Princesa launched the project “Angat Utak, Tatak Tatag” which aimed to train a solid network of youth volunteers who were adequately trained for psychosocial first-aid and support through a series of seminars and discussions. More than 70 youth volunteers, VAWC officers, and barangay health workers (BHW) from 20 barangays proactively engaged in the community re-echoing phase of the project in an effort to become advocates for anti-GBV initiatives. 

• Junior Chamber International Puerto Princesa Peacock

The Junior Chamber International Puerto Princesa Peacock (JCIPPP) launched “Project INDAY: Information Drive Awareness for the Youth'' with partner student and faculty organizations from Palawan State University. The project began with a seminar on mental health and gender-based violence. Project INDAY also engaged students in a creative infographics and short film-making online contest that showed the role of social media in raising awareness about issues. The youth group also launched a social media campaign about GBV awareness and mental health advocacies. 

• Crossian Psychology Society (CrossPsychS) of the Holy Cross of Davao College

The Crossian Psychology Society of the Holy Cross of Davao College chose the village of Marahan as the partner of the Project Kaagapay, a community-based program that offered promotive and preventive initiatives on gender-based violence and mental health concerns. Project Kaagapay recognized the lack of GBV knowledge among the rural community as well as the lack of readily available mental health and psychosocial support and services. This motivated the Cross Psych Society to initiate mental health, GBV literacy and psychological first aid sessions.

• Youth Peer Educators with Teen Health Quarters and Municipal Youth Development Office

The Youth Peer Educators, with the Municipal Youth Development Office and Teen Health Quarters of Ubay, Bohol, held a GBV and Mental Health Awareness seminar to engage local youth. The PAGPA-AMBIT (Visayan, meaning “to share”) project involved seminars to educate the participants on gender-based violence, mental health care and gender inequality faced by Ubayanon youth. Other activities included an infographic-making contest and a mangrove tree planting event. 

• Holy Name University (Neo_PsychSociety)

The student-led Neo_Psych Society of Holy Name University organized a bootcamp for students and locals of Tagbilaran City, Bohol in an effort to raise awareness about gender-based violence. “Project Luwas” kicked off with a symposium on GBV-related challenges and the appropriate legal interventions to inform and empower individuals. The four-day bootcamp also included various interactive sessions – involving role-playing and simulation – on psychological first-aid, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS). In collaboration with the university’s Criminology and Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs, the project offered a basic self-defense training to physically equip and psychologically empower the participants as part of safety awareness.

• Samahang Mag-aaral ng Sikolohiyang Filipino (SAMASIKOFIL) of Ateneo de Davao University

SAMASIKOFIL or Samahang Mag-aaral ng Sikolohiyang Filipino is an  academic organization of Psychology students in Ateneo de Davao University that wants to “create a world free from stigma and prejudice”. As part of Project Brave, the organization held a two-day local mental health summit which brought together academic institutions, local government units, and non-governmental organizations across the Davao region. The event included GBV learning sessions and mental health plenary discussions on the current landscape of mental health in Davao region and the initiatives of local government units.

- Written by Julia Marie Padilla (Communications Intern) and Kristine Sabillo Guerrero (Media & Communications Analyst)