New campaign launched calls on everyone to join the Game Changer movement to tackle gender-based violence

A new public awareness campaign for the Game Changer programme has been launched spotlighting how male allyship and positive role modelling can help tackle the problem of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence (DSGBV).

The Game Changer programme is delivered by the GAA, in partnership with Ruhama and White Ribbon Ireland, supported by the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) and the Camogie Association.

Game Changer aims to use the positive influence of Gaelic Games to challenge the social and cultural norms and the behaviours that contribute to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence (DSGBV) by promoting alternative behaviours, attitudes and role models, and providing people with tools and knowledge.

These norms and behaviours can range from catcalling, harassment and victim-blaming, to sharing of pornography, intimate image abuse, coercive control, sexual exploitation and violence.

The new Game Changer public awareness campaign links the GAA’s values of respect, leadership and community to the values of a Game Changer that speaks out against gender-based violence.

A preview of the campaign was played on the jumbo screens in Croke Park as part of a Game Changer Activation Day at Sunday’s All-Ireland Football Semi-Final and Junior Championship Final in front of fans and special guests, who included Taoiseach Micheál Martin; Tánaiste Simon Harris; Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Jim O’Callaghan; the Minister for Education and Youth Helen McEntee; and Ruhama Ambassador, former Tánaiste, Minister for Justice and MEP Frances Fitzgerald.

Support for the Game Changer campaign was highlighted as a notable achievement in a progress report by the Department of Justice published last month on its Zero Tolerance Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.

Also in attendance on Sunday was Jason Poole, whose sister Jennifer was murdered in 2021 by her former partner.Announcing the new public awareness campaign, the Game Changer partners said: “We are delighted to mark the next phase of the Game Changer programme today in Croke Park. Game Changer is taking a whole-of-society approach to tackling gender- based violence by highlighting how we can all do more to ensure our clubs and communities are a safe and welcoming place for all. Our public campaign aims to educate and invite individuals, particularly men and boys, into this conversation. Our player ambassadors are the first of many Game Changers to take the lead in speaking out against gender-based violence and we hope to have many more Game Changers over the course of this initiative.

Through our educational e-learning programmes that will be released in the autumn, we hope to see a real change in our communities and society as we all come together to tackle this insidious issue.”

About the Game Changer Campaign

A series of promotional video and audio adverts is being rolled out featuring male and female players and officers from Gaelic Games clubs across Ireland, showing that there are Game Changers in every community in Ireland and they take the form of men and women, young and old. The adverts will run on out-of-home, digital and social media channels throughout July, targeting 18-35-year-old men in particular.

Donegal county footballer, Oisín Gallen, who is an ambassador of the programme, stars in the adverts and says: “There’s incredible encouragement in the GAA on the pitch to back up your teammate and to leave no man behind. That should be the same when you’re calling out gender-based violence. If it was racism or if it was any other type of abuse, I’m sure there’d be a lot of people who’d be standing up to call out what’s wrong, so it shouldn’t be any different when it comes to gender-based violence.”

A new www.gamechanger.ie page has gone live where people can find out more about how they can get involved in the Game Changer movement.

Healthy Relationships E-Learning Modules

This autumn, the Game Changer programme will launch four Healthy Relationships e-learning modules on the GAA’s e-learning site Tobar, addressing topics such as boundaries, consent, bystander intervention, intimate image abuse and the harmful impacts of pornography. Targeting players, volunteers and officers, the age- appropriate modules aim to give everyone the tools and knowledge they need to become Game Changers.