A new initiative designed to help young people identify and respond to sexual harassment on nights out has been launched across Ireland. The ‘All Right All Night’ online course will provide 5,000 initial places for adults aged 18-24, teaching them effective bystander intervention techniques.
Minister for Arts and Culture Patrick O’Donovan announced the free one-hour training session, which is being developed and run by University College Cork (UCC) as an extension of its existing Bystander Intervention Programme. The university program has already been successfully trialed in schools, youth clubs, and sports clubs before this nationwide implementation.
“I want to encourage young people to take part in this important training which has the potential to make a positive difference in our society and bring about a real change in attitudes and behaviors, particularly in a night-time context,” Minister O’Donovan said during the announcement.
According to The Journal, the initiative emerges from recommendations made to the Night-Time Economy Taskforce, which was established in 2021 following COVID-19 lockdowns to revitalize Ireland’s nightlife sector. Improving the safety of women and girls while socializing was identified as a key priority.
Professor Louise Crowley from UCC emphasized that the course aims to transform cultural attitudes around nightlife safety: “The ability to better recognize problematic behavior and the associated capacity to make safe and effective interventions will encourage and enable participants to contribute to an improved culture of respect and safety for all young people on nights out.”
The program will teach participants how to identify concerning situations and provide them with tools to safely intervene or seek appropriate assistance when they observe someone in a vulnerable position.
This initiative represents part of ongoing efforts to create safer nightlife environments throughout Ireland while empowering young adults to take an active role in preventing sexual harassment and violence in social settings.