Event Spotlight: MeTae Empowerment Session

What inspired you to create this event? What should people know about it?

“#MeTae, inspired by the #MeToo movement, is an Erasmus+ project, funded by the European Union, ran by three consortium partners – 2 from Greece and 1 from Bulgaria: Information Technology for Market Leadership (ITML), North Hellenic Taekwondo Union (NHTU) and Taekwondo Club Hereya (TCH).

The goal of the project is to promote gender equality in sport, support social inclusion in and through sport, and combat gender-based violence by empowering coaches and athletes alike. The aim of the empowerment sessions is to reach out to the community, especially youngsters, and raise awareness regarding gender-based violence (GBV) in sport!

The 1st Empowerment Session took place on October 15th, at the SDA Youth Church Community space. The session lasted for about 2 hours. Our ITML team presented to 19 youngsters the goals of the project as well as what we have achieved so far. A rather fruitful discussion ensued, where we talked about how they can identify, respond, and deal with phenomena of GBV in their daily lives. It was great to see everyone involved in the discussion, irrespective of age and gender!

The highlight of the event was the self-defense demonstration by Taekwondo coach Melina Lama, giving the chance to our participants to practice some moves that can be lifesaving! Should all go as scheduled, we plan to organize more sessions in Greece and Bulgaria!”