A Macclesfield councillor is leading a new campaign against sexual harassment in our area.

This article was nubbed to our website by Macclesfield Cheshire East Councillor James Barber. Click the black 'Nub it' button on our homepage to get your own news or opinions published.

Last year, an OFSTED review into sexual abuse in schools and colleges found that sexual harassment had become 'normalised' within educational settings, with nearly 90% of girls and 50% of boys saying they'd been sent explicit content online for example, whilst 92% of girls and 74% of boys said sexist name-calling happens regularly to them or their peers.

These statistics are truly sickening. Our young people are being subjected to this 'normalised' culture where they are growing up having to 'put up' with sexual harassment. And most who took part in the review said they didn't feel the curriculum was fit to change things.

Therefore, last year, in my role as an elected Councillor and as Cheshire East's Champion for Young People, I approached the Children and Families department at Cheshire East Council to put some sort of educational campaign to change attitudes and challenge behaviours. From our first meeting back in May 2021 to now, we have put together the SHOUT campaign (Sexual Harassment – together we can SHOUT it out). As a White Ribbon Ambassador and a passionate advocate for raising awareness of, and tackling, sexual harassment, domestic abuse, and sexual violence, this is a campaign that is close to my heart, which is why I commissioned it. Nobody should be subjected to this awful behaviour.

Setting up a working group involving myself, Council Officers, partners, and young people, we carried out our own survey of young people in Cheshire East – the results of which were stark and concerning. This is an issue that is a genuine concern to young people across the borough, and this demonstrated to us exactly why SHOUT is needed. Using a variety of media to engage with young people aged between 11-18, parents and carers, schools, professionals, and representatives, we want to ensure young people across the borough know how and when to call out inappropriate behaviour, and how to have healthy relationships themselves. The campaign will aim to prevent these issues from arising, educating young people, especially boys, about what is and isn't acceptable.

The ongoing input of young people across Cheshire East has allowed us to put together a campaign that is for young people, by young people. I have been truly inspired to see the way that our Youth Council has worked together on this. Without our wonderful young people, this campaign would not have been possible. They are not just the future, but the present as well, and as their Champion on Cheshire East Council, I couldn't be prouder of every single young person who has worked on this project.

On 10th March, we formally launched the campaign at an event that was attended by young people, Council Officers, and partners. At the event, we were amazed to be informed that the SHOUT campaign had won a British Youth Council award for Campaign of the Year. This award belongs to all the people that worked on the project, as they deserve recognition for the hard work that's gone into this.

So now it's been launched, what next? We want to be getting our message into schools through lesson plans, assemblies and talks with students. This is the next challenge facing us, but I know we will get there with the brilliant team we've got. Furthermore, all our resources are readily available on the SHOUT website, which can be found at this webpage.

I wish to place on record my heartfelt thanks to every single Cheshire East Council Officer who has been involved in this project, as well as all our partners such as myCWA (Cheshire's Domestic Abuse charity) and Fluid (our design agency), and finally, of course, our inspirational young people who are working tirelessly for a better future.

The final thing I wish to say is, if you have experienced sexual harassment, you don't have to suffer in silence. There is support out there, some of which can be found at the bottom of this article. There's no excuse for sexual harassment, domestic abuse, or sexual violence, and we all must stamp it out. I sincerely hope that everyone in the borough will be able to get behind this youth-led campaign, and I'm confident that it will be a success.

Macclesfield: For more information on the SHOUT campaign, please click here.

For support surrounding issues of Sexual Harassment, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence, go to any of the following links:

GOV.UK Guidance

NHS Getting Help