A note from your VP Welfare, Odette:
Survivor stories is a campaign that I am working on to promote wellbeing and support services that are available to victim-survivors of domestic and/or sexual abuse both internal and external of the organisation.
Did you know that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime? Or that more than 1 in 5 women and 1 in 20 men have experienced sexual assault as adults? These are harrowing statistics that only show partly how severely domestic and sexual abuse affect society. Since a lot of victim-survivors do not report for a variety of reasons these statistics could be even worse. As a Union we take a no tolerance stance towards any type of abuse. We want every victim-survivor to know that you are not alone. Help is available if, and when you want it, as we know that it can take time to even voice what you have experienced.
Sasha Jones – student at the School of Arts and Media has created a mural in collaboration with the Students' Union as part of this campaign.
Have a read of her reason behind her design:
“My idea focuses on the stories of people in a bad situation, or who have gotten out of a bad situation. The design is gender-neutral inviting all walks of life to add their messages. The main idea is that people are not alone in the way they feel, and that everyone has a story.
The colours used are to catch the eyes of passers-by and the white borders give everything an open feeling, inviting others to leave their own stories or personal experiences that are welcome and valid.”
We are now calling for our students and staff to come and write letters of hope and affirmation - or it could be a message to yourself or to a loved one, all are welcome. Come and place it on our mural to let our victim-survivors know that they are not alone, and that help is available.
The mural will be up from the 23rd of March on the first floor of the Students' Union building. Let us create a caring community, let us share Survivor Stories.