Are you onside? Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls through sport

The Are You Onside? project, delivered by Healthy Stadia, is a ground-breaking initiative aimed at addressing violence against women and girls (VAWG) through community sports settings across Merseyside. Funded by the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership (MVRP), this innovative project uses sport as a platform to equip community sports coaches and stakeholders with the skills to intervene in harmful situations and challenge the root causes of violence, such as gender inequality and toxic masculinity.

The programme, adapted from the Football Onside methodology developed by the University of Exeter, is a bystander intervention training designed specifically for sports settings. The goal is to train participants to become ‘active bystanders’—positive role models who can safely and effectively challenge inappropriate behaviours such as sexist jokes, ‘locker-room’ banter, and harassment.

Sport holds a unique position in society, capable of influencing cultural norms and behaviours. The Are You Onside? project recognises this and seeks to use sport as a platform to challenge harmful gender norms, such as toxic masculinity and the objectification of women, which contribute to the prevalence of VAWG. Through targeted training, participants learn how to safely intervene in everyday situations—whether it’s confronting sexist comments, addressing harassment, or challenging inappropriate behaviours within their communities.

This approach aligns with the Labour government’s commitment to halving violence against women and girls within the next decade. Labour’s manifesto outlines a whole-society approach to VAWG, recognising that prevention and early intervention are essential. Projects like Are You Onside? are crucial to this strategy, tackling the root causes of violence before they escalate.

The issue of gender-based violence and harassment is not confined to one sector. Across industries, including sports media, women continue to face microaggressions and discrimination. Despite some progress in increasing female representation, such as more women presenting at major sporting events, underlying biases remain. Women are still judged based on their appearance rather than their expertise, and many face constant pressure to prove their competence.

The Are You Onside? project directly addresses this cultural issue by encouraging sports organisations to consider how best to foster an environment where harmful behaviours are actively challenged, and if necessary, reported. By promoting positive role models and empowering individuals to take a stand, the project contributes to the wider societal shift towards gender equality, both in sports and beyond.

Labour’s focus on creating safer environments for women and girls through legislative changes, such as making misogyny a hate crime and introducing a legal duty for employers to prevent sexual harassment, complements the objectives of the Are You Onside? project. Just as sports professionals are trained to intervene in harmful situations, the new government is committed to ensuring that workplaces and public spaces are safer for women.

However, as recent high-profile cases of sexual harassment and violence have shown, there is still a long way to go. Millions of women across the UK experience harassment daily, often without recourse. The Are You Onside? project addresses this head-on by training individuals to challenge these behaviours, contributing to a cultural shift that will help prevent violence and harassment before they occur.

As the Labour government moves forward with its pledge to tackle VAWG, projects like Are You Onside? will play a vital role in creating safer communities. By leveraging the power of sport to drive cultural change, the project contributes to a future where women and girls are free from violence and harassment, both on and off the field.

For an informal conversation on how you can get involved in Are you onside? please email: michael.viggars@heg.org.uk