Adolescence is a crucial time for building identity and learning how to form relationships. Among teenage girls, gender stereotypes, controlling behaviour within relationships, online violence and a limited awareness of the support services available are increasingly common difficulties. Schools are one of the few places well placed to notice these situations early and to encourage healthier relationships instead.
Teenage girls are a particularly vulnerable group when it comes to gender-based and digital violence, and dedicated, confidential spaces where they can talk openly are often missing. Reaching them early, within school, makes it easier for difficulties to come to light, for healthy relationships to take root, and for future violence to be prevented before it happens.
The project
"Dillo alla Luna" works inside schools to prevent gender-based violence among young people through listening, guidance and awareness-raising. At its centre is a confidential listening service where girls can speak openly about their relationships and experiences, alongside orientation activities that connect them with the wider network of support services already present in their area.
Alongside the listening service, the project runs awareness sessions that help girls recognise the early signs of violence and discrimination, understand what a respectful, consensual relationship looks like, and feel more confident asking for help when something does not feel right. The aim is to strengthen girls' ability to spot situations of distress or violence early, encourage them to seek support, and build a broader awareness of healthy relationships, consent and gender equality within the wider school community.
Who the project is for
The project's direct beneficiaries are around 150 to 200 female students across the participating schools, who can access the listening service, guidance activities and prevention and awareness sessions.
Its impact reaches further, to families, teachers and school staff, and to the wider educating community around each school, for an estimated total of over 500 people.
Project name: DILLO ALLA LUNA
Proposing organisation: CENTRO ANTIVIOLENZA LUNA APS
Area of intervention: Inclusion & Social Development
Country: Italy