Press release – EQUALITY IS UNISEX

On August 2, 2023, the organizations RISOTO and inTYMYta presented the results of their two-year activities on the journey towards equality, safety, and respect for Slovak schools and the wider public.

The projects received support for their activities from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021.

Thanks to this support, the inTYMYta organization provides education for youth, teachers, companies, and clinics throughout Slovakia, representing primary prevention against violence, harassment, discrimination, and teenage pregnancies. InTYMYta also offers methodologies and educational materials for free, and their educators intend to continue supporting and educating teachers, including through events like the Healthy Relationships Day and other workshops.

Qualified instructors also provide education in companies, where they bring strategies for healthy relationships, and in clinics, they discuss respectful communication in matters of sexual and reproductive health. In the past two years, the inTYMYta campaign #ajopolnoci reached over 163,000 people, organized awareness events for the public, and launched a successful petition to support the implementation of relationship and sexual education.

“We conducted extensive data collection, questionnaire surveys, and focus groups. We aligned the results with professional standards of healthy psychosexual development, current WHO and UNESCO recommendations, and other expert organizations. Based on this, we developed workshops on health, respectful relationships, and violence and harassment prevention. We communicated these through awareness events and campaigns, continuously monitoring the impact of our activities. The goal of all our activities is to bring more health, safety, and respect to society. Research shows that quality relationships and sexual education contribute to this,” explains Zuzana Bendíková, who also serves as an educator.

InTYMYta approaches the topics of quality relationships and sexual education in an age-appropriate manner, emphasizing values of safety, health, respect, and equality.

The organization RISOTO (“Respectful Inclusion-Social Opportunity-Tolerance”) launched the UNISEX campaign as part of its project, aiming to answer the question of why some things are unisex while others are not. The campaign aims to bring about a positive change in the perception of gender equality and to promote critical thinking among young people. Many young individuals lack knowledge about gender equality, yet they are constantly exposed to persistent stereotypes about women and men, whether in everyday situations in public or private spaces or through media, which have become a significant part of their lives. As part of the campaign, questions are addressed, such as: Why is aging unisex, but gray hair isn’t? Why is dinner unisex, but cooking dinner isn’t? Why are emotions unisex, but the right to vulnerability isn’t?

The campaign runs on Instagram @unisex_by_risoto, YouTube, and is complemented by the website www.svetjeunisex.sk. From November 2022 to July 2023, the campaign on Instagram had 1,187,092 impressions and more than 80,000 views on YouTube. The “World is Unisex” campaign has become one of the most visible campaigns oriented toward increasing gender sensitivity among young people.

As part of the project, audiovisual lectures were conducted in schools. These lectures used short excerpts from movies, TV shows, and advertisements to highlight negative stereotypes about women and men in public and private life. More than 2000 students attended these lectures.

“There is an infinite number of aspects in life that should be unisex but are not in reality. Therefore, our ambition is to continue raising awareness about gender inequalities in society,” says Michaela Jankovičová regarding RISOTO’s future activities.