Youth programmes

DRCC’s Youth Programmes: BodyRight and Let’s Get Real 

A key aim of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre is to prevent the harm of sexual violence. To help achieve this, we have developed educational programmes aimed at young people, namely: BodyRight and Let’s Get Real.  

Our in-depth, trauma-informed training is provided, free of charge, to professionals working with young people, in a variety of different settings: educational, youth and social work, youth groups, and individuals.   

BodyRight, DRCC’s flagship programme, is a sexual violence awareness and prevention programme for young people.  

BodyRight aims to raise awareness about the impact of sexual violence and to assist in its prevention through equipping young people with the knowledge and skills to make positive choices for themselves and others.  

Through engaging with the BodyRight programme, young people will learn about: Consent, Friendships & Relationships (real world and online), The Nature of Sexual Violence, The Impact of Sexual Violence, How to Support Someone Affected by Sexual Violence, Image Sharing, Online Behaviour, Staying Safe Online, as well as signposting to Supports & Services.  

This free training for professionals working with young people (teachers, youth workers, social workers etc.) takes place over four half-day sessions, typically online.  

The first two sessions focus on providing the educator with the scaffolding necessary to deliver the BodyRight programme to young people.  

The final two sessions focus on the contents of the BodyRight programme itself, including the PowerPoint, manual and resources, so educators leave the training feeling empowered and equipped to deliver the BodyRight programme to a high standard.  

BodyRight was first developed by DRCC in 2007 and has been updated frequently throughout the years in response to educational and societal changes, with the latest update occurring in 2024.  

We provide numerous BodyRight training courses throughout the year. If you are interested in attending a BodyRight training, please contact etadmin@rcc.ie or complete our Registration of Interest form.

"As a teacher in a DEIS 1, inner city school I've experienced a lot of CPD training over the years. I have never encountered two facilitators as skilled and knowledgeable. Their capacity to keep the course on track while enabling maximum participation and exploration was admirable. The content isn't always easy to absorb but at no point did I feel unsafe, exposed or vulnerable. I was inspired not just by the course content but by their approach to facilitating."

"Really rewarding. An excellent guide for how to discuss topics I’ve sometimes felt at sea discussing."

"Very enjoyable training. Liked the modelling of the trauma informed approach. Valuable training that ideally all staff working with young people in a pastoral role would avail of."

Let’s Get Real is DRCC’s follow-up youth programme to BodyRight. Let’s Get Real was developed by DRCC in 2019 and was subsequently updated in 2024.  

Let’s Get Real is an educational programme that aims to empower young people to be critical consumers of the media they consume, including social media, pop culture and pornography. In addition, Let’s Get Real aims to increase young people’s awareness of the impact such influences have on their lives, their development and their relationships with others.  

Through engaging with the Let’s Get Real programme, young people will learn about: Gender Norms & Stereotypes, Pop Culture Messages about Identity and Sexuality, and Pornography (consent in pornography, the porn industry, the development of pornography, and the impact of pornography).  

This free training for professionals working with young people (teachers, youth workers, social workers etc.) takes place over two half-day sessions, typically online.  

Let’s Get Real training for professionals contains a mixture of scaffolding and background training for educators (e.g. examining unconscious bias, managing sensitive conversations and legal issues), as well as practical facilitation to familiarize themselves with the contents of the Let’s Get Real programme, so educators feel sufficiently confident and competent to deliver the programme to a high standard.  

"I found the professional and friendly way the training was given and explained so helpful, the resources that I received will help me deliver the programme in an organised, relevant and interesting format"

"I think it is a valuable course that helps to equip educators and those working with youth to address this important issue"

"A very important evidence based programme to support educators in delivering sexual health promotion"

DRCC’s Youth Programmes are funded by the Department of Justice, to run throughout the year free of charge to a mixed audience of educators, with young people nationwide benefiting from the necessary and appreciated funding.  

The training and resources can be delivered to individual groups too for a fee, for enquiries contact etadmin@rcc.ie

A small cohort of DRCC’s now extensive Youth Programmes ALUMNI attending a feedback session on the updating and development of our BodyRight and Let’s Get Real programmes in 2023

Outreach

Stands at college sexual awareness and rag weeks are among the services available through outreach.

Resources

We have developed some useful resources focused on young people and based on our training materials: