WRDA and Forward South Launch Belfast City Council Funded Community Project to Help Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls
30 September 2026 - The Women’s Resource and Development Agency (WRDA), in partnership with Forward South, is launching a new community-based education and outreach project focused on preventing violence against women and girls in the Wider University and Lower Ormeau area (WULO).The project, known as WULO, will work directly with the Roma Community, LORAG, Walkie Talkie Girls and Happy Women.
Through accessible, interactive and trauma-informed sessions, participants will explore the different forms of violence and abuse, including coercive control, sexual harassment, misogyny, victim blaming, digital abuse and harmful attitudes. The workshops will also support participants to recognise warning signs, understand consent, build confidence in safe bystander action and find appropriate sources of help.
The programme will combine WRDA’s specialist expertise in ending violence against women and girls with Forward South’s strong local relationships and knowledge of South Belfast communities. Workshop content and delivery will be adapted with participating groups so that discussions are culturally relevant, inclusive and responsive to local circumstances.
Delivering four workshops with each group will allow participants to build their knowledge over time, ask questions in a trusted setting and connect learning to everyday experiences. It will also give facilitators the opportunity to respond to emerging needs and reinforce practical ways that individuals and organisations can challenge harmful behaviour and help create a safer community.
This partnership recognises that preventing violence against women and girls requires long-term, community-led action. By bringing specialist knowledge into familiar local spaces, WRDA and Forward South aim to strengthen awareness, increase confidence to act and support communities to challenge the attitudes and behaviours that enable violence.
WRDA and Forward South look forward to working alongside the Roma Community, LORAG, Walkie Talkie Girls and Happy Women as the project gets under way, and to sharing learning from the programme as it develops.
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For enquiries please contact Helen Crickard, helen@reclaimtheagenda.org