What needs to change? Preventing male violence against women

16 February 2022, 7:30pm - 9:00pm


We need a conversation about preventing further violence against women and creating a safer healthier society for all.

You are invited to take part in an online event, convened as a voluntary initiative by Molly Sterling and Ruairí McKiernan in collaboration with Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.

Speakers so far include the team behind the innovative What Does He Need? project, men's health expert Conor Hammersley and DRCC's Education and Training Manager, Caitriona Freir (details below). More speakers and artists to be announced.

Registration is free - you will have the option to register with a donation to DRCC - all support is very welcome. Register online on the Eventbrite page.

Registrants may get emails and updates from organisers. Please help us spread the word by sharing this page on social media and through email and WhatsApp.

Thank you!


Speakers include:

  • What Does He Need?: The entire What Does He Need? project team will be joining us on the day. What Does He Need? is a long-term project by Fiona Whelan (artist, writer and educator), Brokentalkers (theatre company) and Rialto Youth Project (Project managed by Dannielle McKenna) , exploring how men and boys are shaped by and influence the world they live in. Engaging boys, young men, adult men, educators and diverse publics through workshops, long term-programmes and public art works, What Does He Need? aims to create significant public dialogue about the current state of masculinity. See whatdoesheneed.com.
  • Caitriona Freir: Caitriona is the Education & Training Manager in Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. Her role involves training in a number of different settings on supporting those impacted by sexual violence. She previously worked as Youth Programmes Co-ordinator in DRCC where her role involved developing and training in youth sexual violence awareness and prevention programmes. The themes covered in DRCC Youth Programmes are: the nature of sexual violence, consent, how to support a friend, healthy relationships and a programme dedicated to educating young people to be critical consumers of media, culture and pornography. Before joining DRCC, Caitriona worked as a youth worker with a focus on teenage health delivery for young people.
  • Conor Hammersley: Conor has extensive experience in the area of men’s health at a research, policy and advocacy level. He is a PhD Scholar with Teagasc and the National Center for Men’s Health and his work looks at the socio-cultural context that shapes gendered behaviour among rural men in Ireland. His research interests include gender and health, mental health and suicide prevention in men, and health promotion targeted at ‘hard to reach’ populations of men. He has a number of peer-reviewed publications and has presented at national and international conferences on rural men’s health and is a board member of the Ending Sexual Violence, Prevention and Support Committee (ESP) in the Institute of Technology Carlow and the National Farmer Health Alliance in Ireland and a member of the American Public Health Association.
  • Molly Sterling: Molly is a musician, facilitator and founder of The Reclaim Project - an empowering community platform for gender minorities and women who have experienced power abuse within their creative industries. Molly’s work strives to be a crossover between art, activism and social justice.
  • Ruairí McKiernan: Ruairí is an activist, author, charity founder and former Presidential appointee of the Council of State. He is also a trainee therapist involved in mentoring and supporting young men among others. Ruairí worked in the area of sexual health promotion before founding the SpunOut.ie youth organisation in 2005. He has since founded and co-founded numerous social change campaigns and initiatives and was part of the founding team behind Uplift. Ruairí is the bestselling author of Hitching for Hope, host of the Love and Courage podcast, and a regular contributor to the media on health and social issues.

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