UNLOVE: A Digital Game for Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Awareness

UNLOVE is an under-development digital game aiming the prevention and awareness of dating violence (DV), namely gender-based violence (GBV). Violence in intimate relationships (VIR) is a serious global problem, with a significant gender setting, given that most people who suffer from it are women. VIR profoundly affects physical, psychological, sexual, reproductive, social and professional development, with consequences on the health and wellbeing of individuals, families, and communities. Different recent Portuguese and international surveys illustrate a worrying scenario in which the number of victims and perpetrators of VIR are very high. Additional studies, qualitative in nature, encompassing young people from diverse backgrounds, show the persistence of myths and gender stereotypes regarding DV, such as the compliance with the more traditional forms of male socialization, in the case of heterosexual couples, or the emphasizing of gender differences. Other studies underline the importance of developing innovative intervention and prevention initiatives adjusted to adolescents and teens, focusing on the prevention of health-compromising behaviours and encouraging a shift on attitudes, beliefs, myths and values. Digital games can have a strong role in this process supporting non-formal education prevention programs, considering their potential in attracting, engaging, and retaining participants. This paper discusses and describes the development process of UNLOVE, a digital game aiming to promote the acquisition of knowledge about this phenomenon, namely in what concerns: the training to recognize abusive intimate situations; the identification and production of changes in socio-cultural beliefs on which such violence is grounded; and the development of skills to manage a violence situation. UNLOVE is being developed as a non-formal education prevention program in the form of a real-time, narrative-based, point and click digital game, in which users impersonate different avatars that allow them to experiment and witness several DV situations. UNLOVE paradigm is based on the assumption that there are different scenarios, views and dimensions in approaching DV problem. Besides a description of the game concept and structure, the paper also presents preliminary results on the validation of the game design, implemented in three phases with final users (Portuguese adolescents and teens).