What Can I Do? – Preventing Gender-Based Violence through Education

WCID: What Can I Do?

What is "WCID"?

WCID (What Can I Do?) is a non-profit organisation created to prevent gender-based violence (GBV) by empowering men through positive education and training, designed by both female and male leaders.

Through our Liberia 7-15 project, we are introducing Rugby 7s to Liberia but with a crucial difference: participation is only open to those who complete GBV prevention training. By linking sport with education, we aim to create a new generation of allies who lead with respect, equality, and accountability.

Our Aims

#StandWithSurvivors
#StopGenderBasedViolence
#ChangeThroughSport

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Introducing Liberia 7-15

Liberia 7-15 is WCID’s 5-year youth empowerment & gender equality programme, using rugby to change lives and attitudes in Liberia.

A youth-led project aiming to introduce rugby 7s to all 15 counties of Liberia, this project will use the sport as a vehicle for:

Preventing violence against women and girls
Promoting gender equality
Empowering young people through education, opportunities, teamwork, and leadership

Our History

When our co-founder Mark Lee Hegarty first mentioned he was visiting Liberia, it was meant to be a short trip – a way to connect with the Matsiko World Orphan Choir, a group of extraordinary children using music to rise above hardship. But that trip turned into a four-year, life-changing project – one that would redefine WCID’s mission.

Mark lived, worked, and toured with the choir, capturing their spirit, their stories, and their mission in Let The Children Sing! – a six-part docuseries filmed and narrated by the children themselves. While filming, Mark came face-to-face with the painful truth of the scale of sexual violence in Liberia. He met three teenage girls – survivors who had been cast out of their communities and left homeless after bravely reporting their abusers. From their pain, they built power, and formed STOP-GBV (Sisters Thinking as One to Prevent Gender-Based Violence), a grassroots movement that educates communities in Montserrado about consent, respect, and human rights, and provides signposting and support to survivors.

The truth is stark: without education, many in Liberia – boys, girls, men and women – still do not understand that rape is wrong. And the country does not have the resources to change that on its own. We knew we had to act. Following discussions with our co-founder Gauri Taylor-Nayar, together, we began developing a national programme; one that combines the power of education with the spirit of sport to drive cultural and generational change. That programme is Liberia 7-15.

How Liberia 7-15 Works

In October 2025, a pilot programme will launch in Monrovia, Liberia, with rugby coaches training the next generation of local coaches.

Boys and girls from local schools in Monrovia will learn to play rugby, and participate in compulsory workshops on gender-based violence prevention, delivered by trained local leaders and the STOP-GBV team.

Children will be fed, supported, and equipped – and the pilot will culminate in Liberia’s first inter-school rugby tournament.

By 2026, a national tournament will be held involving additional counties.

By 2029, the goal is to have a national school rugby team representing Liberia internationally – built on respect, resilience, and equality.

What We Need

To help us launch this programme, we need:

Rugby Coaches – for coaching and mentoring local trainers out in the field
Rugby Equipment – balls, kits, cones, boots, post converters
Funding – to support food, travel, materials, and local logistics
Volunteers – both in Liberia and the UK, to assist in planning, media, and delivery

This is more than a sports programme, it’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a model for how sport can change lives, and how education can prevent abuse.

With your help, Liberia will become the first country in the world to make Gender-Based Violence prevention education mandatory to play a sport, and rugby could become the first sport to lead that charge.

Support our Campaign

If you are able to support us in any way, we kindly invite you to contact us by email: [email protected].
If you are interested in our projects, please share our message on social media and with your friends, family and colleagues.
We appreciate all of your support!

Our Patrons

Nazir Afzal OBE

Nazir Afzal OBE was Chief Crown Prosecutor for NW England. During a 24 year career, he has prosecuted some of the most high-profile cases in the country and advised on several legal topics, including violence against women & girls, child sexual abuse, and honour-based violence. His prosecutions of the so-called Rochdale grooming gang and BBC presenter Stuart Hall were groundbreaking and has changed the landscape of child protection. He was appointed to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), and he is also a National Advisor on gender-based violence to the Welsh Government.

Rachel Williams

Rachel is an ambassador for Threshold_Das, Freedom Programme & Pioneer for Safelives. After 18 years of an abusive relationship, Rachel was shot and severely injured by her violent partner. He then committed suicide, as did her 16-year-old son Jack, shortly after the attack. Rachel spent several weeks in hospital and now lives with life-altering injuries. She campaigns tirelessly and is committed to ending domestic abuse. She has four successful petitions on change.org with over half a million signatures. A qualified IDVA, Rachel also runs an online awareness Facebook page called 'Don’t Look Back'.