Powerful anti-misogyny campaign created by Derby school students wins major national prize

Kaiden Doyle, 16, a year 11 student at the academy – which is part of Archway Learning Trust - was part of the hard-hitting ‘Derby White Ribbon’ campaign aimed at tackling the issue of violence against women and girls.

The campaign was put together by Derby Youth Council, of which Kaiden is a member, and involved a powerful video illustrating a group of boys acting in various inappropriate ways towards girls.

The different types of inappropriate behaviours are then seen to be ‘called out’ by one of the young men, with the aim of the film to ‘change the story’ around certain types of inappropriate behaviour.

As part of the campaign, young Derby school students, including Kaiden, made thousands of white ribbons which were distributed amongst teenagers across the city.

The video was released on White Ribbon Day last November, a day when men and boys show their commitment to ending violence against women and girls.

The Derby White Ribbon Campaign was nominated for the National Crimebeat awards, a prestigious annual awards ceremony recognising the most innovative and successful crime prevention projects carried out by young people aged between five and 25 years old.

National Crimebeat is the youth crime prevention charity of the High Sheriff’s Association of England & Wales.

Kaiden was one of a group of young people from the campaign who travelled to London where their hard-hitting and far-reaching project was named a prize-winner, scooping £1,000.

Derby’s prize-winning awareness video was produced along with Derby Theatre and it was funded by Derby City Council, Derby Theatre, Derby Youth Alliance and Community Action Derby, and features Joe Wildsmith from Derby County Football Club, Wayne Madsen from Derbyshire County Cricket Club and local music artist Scriptz. It was produced by Derby-based Goldbox Productions.

The video has been viewed thousands of times and was streamed to every secondary school in Derby.

Kaiden said he had felt extremely proud to have been part of the campaign and to have travelled to London where the project won third prize in the overall contest.

He said the rise in influence of the self-admitted misogynist Andrew Tate was particularly worrying amongst young people and this made him even more determined to play his part in promoting equality.

“I felt really proud,” he said. “I was really proud of the people around me too. It felt really impressive because our voice had made an impact. To have been nominated and to go to London showed us that our impact was big.

“Misogyny is a really serious issue. I grew up around women and I’ve seen the effect misogyny has had, how there are differences between how men and women are treated and it has really made me want to be part of something to tackle that.

“I do a lot of activism. It’s what brings me happiness. There seems to be so many divisions around people and I think having equality is so important. Especially after the rise of Andrew Tate, a lot of young boys have been persuaded to think that men are superior to women. I want people to realise that we are on the same planet and we are humans. I want to see an end to violence against women and misogyny as a whole.”

Kaiden, who said he had been very inspired by being a student at Alvaston Moor Academy where there have been many measures brought in to boost inclusivity, including decorating poles inside the school with flags representing more than 40 nations – helping students and staff celebrate their cultural heritage. Two of the poles have also been decorated with Pride flags.

Outgoing academy principal Michelle Strong said: “We are all so proud of Kaiden and the whole of the Derby Youth Council who have won this brilliant national prize, and recognition, for their white ribbon campaign and video. It tackles such a serious issue and I commend these young people for their efforts in bringing these matters to a wider audience. It’s so important for young people to see their peers being brave enough to talk about matters such as these, and to call out misogynistic behaviours, and I am very happy that one of our students was able to play such an important role in this campaign. We should all be very proud of what these young people have achieved.”

This year was the 26th National Crimebeat Awards and the projects recognised were extremely varied in topic. The awards are the brainchild of the High Sheriff’s Association. There is a High Sheriff in every county in England and Wales and their history and tradition goes back to the Norman Conquest.