Sex & domestic violence

Years ago, while coordinating some national projects aiming to educate in the field of family planning and reproductive health, in Romania - btw. sex still is a very sensitive topic there, even nowadays - I had the opportunity to develop useful training tools and game-based methods for educators and to run campaigns pro-choice and against family violence. It was a chance given to me by one of the most successful sex educators from this part of Europe, the late Mrs. Borbala Koo, the chief executive of SECS, the Romanian subsidiary of the IPPF (Planned Parenthood Federation). It seems I was supposed to learn from the best.

I remember this one year, at the seaside, along with the team of young volunteers I used to coordinate, we wanted to educate people on the beach about the consequences of domestic violence and sexual assaults. How to do that efficiently? Preaching or lecturing?! Would that have impacted properly? Absolutely not! So, we did it creatively, by telling a story in an unusual manner: A couple of young volunteers, a guy and a girl, went to the beach and pretended they were together. 

After a while they started fighting. In the beginning just verbally, but soon after even physically. She kicked her hands next to his head, so everybody believed she slapped his face and then he started to curse her, threaten that he’ll do bad things to her, even rape her and eventually violently pushed her away from the sun chair. She started crying and left in a rush with him following in apparent anger. Can you imagine the shock?! People went to the beach to relax and have fun, but instead they witnessed a domestic violence scene gone bad. And yes, they just witnessed it. Nobody intervened. So, after a few minutes, the 'actors' came back, along with the team of volunteers, telling people it was only a theatrical performance, aiming to make them aware of the reality of domestic violence – something happening all over, even next to us - having discussions and distributing campaign flyers. 

A bit extreme? Depending on the perspective. Highly impacting and efficient? Absolutely!