Oleksandra’s work with youth includes visiting colleges and vocational schools. These are usually located in small towns and villages, further away from large cities. In rural areas, access to educational activities is limited, and young people don’t get as many opportunities to talk about sensitive issues – and besides, there is still a lot of biases and stigma when talking about gender-based violence or sex.

“The further from Kyiv, the more stereotypes there are,” Oleksandra says, “For example, in a training for a group of students which I did in one college, I remember an insight from one girl.  For context, I often asked provocative question, to spark discussion – I find the students are so keen to respond that they interrupt each other answering me. In this particular training, I asked if it was possible to provoke violence. In general, I ethe students answer, “No.” The aggressor is always to blame. But I remember how the girl answered. She said: “If we are talking about parents and children, and the parents said that if the child gets a bad grade, then they will beat the child. And so, a child gets a bad grade and the parents warned the child. That is, the child is to blame.” This insight struck me. I thought: “And this was said by a student who can be in this scenario.” In our society, parents beating children for poor performance in school still exist, so it is still relevant, and we must continue to work on it.” 

When working with young people, Oleksandra practices an “equal to equal” approach and tries to make the conversation as open as possible – so the students feel more relaxed and comfortable raising challenging issues. 

She also relies strongly on group exercises – helping young people imagine different scenarios and how they should respond to violence, seek help, and avoid dangerous situations. 

“Group exercises really unite students, and they also energize them,” Oleksandra says, “Students tend to constantly sit and write texts, but here, they learn in a playful way and do something, and they like it.”

Oleksandra remembers a recent case when informal education and group work helped students overcome their initial reluctance to talk about gender-based violence. She was running a training as the last session of the day, and the college students were already very tired. They kept checking the time and didn’t appear very energetic at first.

However, when the group exercise started, the attitudes changed completely. The students were eager to discuss more in groups, and they no longer felt tired or timid about the topic. 

“This is an informal approach, but at the same time, useful information is shared,” Oleksandra says, “I often joke and attract attention that way. When they hear a joke at the very beginning, they raise their heads and listen even if they were staring at their phones before.”

Oleksandra plans to revisit some of the colleges where she conducted her Rokada training – and compare how students respond when asked about gender-based violence.

“So, we will be able to see the impact we’re having on students,” Oleksandra concludes, “I hope it is there.”