Life Skills through Drama: Equipping Adolescent Girls with Key Knowledge and Skills to Help Them to Mitigate, Prevent, and Respond to Gender-Based Violence

The Life Skills through Drama curriculum aims at promoting the protection of Syrian and Lebanese adolescent girls from gender-based violence (GBV) and enhancing their psychosocial wellbeing. It could be adapted for those living in difficult conditions in any similar cultural context.

Featuring games and activities, the curriculum relies on active learning through experience, practice, reflection, and discussion. Varied creative drama techniques are incorporated, including from Theatre of the Oppressed. The idea is that dramatic play and acting allow the engagement of the whole being - behaviours, cognitions, emotions, and the social dimension - in a unified learning experience that can also be a rehearsal for real-life action.

The curriculum is composed of 6 modules, each of which is divided into 2 sessions (for a total of 12 sessions, each of which is approximately 90 minutes in duration):

1. Trust and Support- Foundations for Healthy Relationships
2. Assertive Communication in Healthy Relationships
3. Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence
4. Coping with Stress and Managing Emotions
5. Decision Making and Problem Solving
6. Our Safety in GBV Contexts.

An example of an activity (in the module designed to help participants cope with stress and deal with emotions): "Ask the girls to identify a traditional/folkloric song form of Syria or a song of Feyrouz that everyone knows. Facilitate this process and help them agree on a song if needed. Once the group has identified the song, ask them to sit in a circle and help them remember the melody and lyrics. Then start repeating it using a unified rhythm and tone. Once the group arrives to a complete harmony, invite them to add some percussion/effects, using their bodies (clapping, taping on their legs, step sounds, etc.) and the musical instruments. You can use existing props instead of musical instruments (using a spoon to tap on a glass, shaking a bottle of water as a maracas, etc.). Act as a 'maestro' and guide them throughout the process, especially if you feel they are not listening enough to each other."

Editor's note: Complementary curriculum resources include: My Safety, My Wellbeing and Additional Sessions for Adolescent Girls.