cw // stories of sexual assault
Around six months ago, I wrote an article in the Metro covering ‘how uni sexual assault victims are being let down by a system cloaked in secrecy’. It detailed my own experience of sexual assault whilst studying in Bristol along with stories from other brave survivors that I spoke to and comments from experts eager to bring about change in the higher education sector.
I didn’t create any fanfare about my investigate feature. It was more of a cathartic exercise than a writing achievement to celebrate. The investigation consumed an entire year of my life and after being left with no conclusion, being told I wasn’t allowed to be privy to the outcome of my complaint, the article became my outlet for the frustration and anger that I felt towards a system and a reporting procedure that essentially prioritised and protected my attacker.
My piece in the Metro led to me being contacted by a journalist at the BBC who was working on a story with two sexual assault survivors from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. They were putting together a letter urging for UK universities to implement mandatory policies for dealing with sexual assault allegations as currently it is not compulsory for higher education institutions to implement a specific policy to deal with sexual assault.
Last Thursday, I appeared on BBC News at 9 with those two survivors, Sydney and Alyse, to discuss our experiences of reporting sexual assault at university and to highlight how important this campaign is.
You can view our segment above and read the accompanying web article on the BBC News website here.
Sydney, who started the campaign, is truly incredible. I am so honoured to appear alongside her and Alyse and be a part of this amazing campaign for change. She has done some absolutely phenomenal work, so please visit the SSCSP (Student Survivors Coalition for Safeguarding Policies)’s website to read the letter, sign the petition and find out more.
In addition to this, I also appeared solo on ITV News, which you can watch below.
Alyse is also doing extraordinary work, filming a documentary about sexual assault in UK universities and looking at rape culture’s broader impact on British society. You can read more about the Safe Space Documentary on its website.
Both these ladies are SO inspiring and I’m so in awe of their fearlessness and perseverance – please, please, please support their projects!
I am so pleased that the campaign has received some extensive press coverage, so expect A LOT of posts from me about this coming up in the next few days. I’ve been sharing a ton on social media, but I think this deserves to be spotlighted here on the blog too.
If you’ve been sexually assaulted and want to seek support, the SSCSP has put together a great list of resources for survivors.
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