Get involved with new research project on sexual violence in activist communities

[nfnm...@riseup.net]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [salvagecollective] Our first research project launches today!
Date: 2015-08-10 11:23

*Monday 10 August 2015*



*Launch of new research project* *on gendered harms in UK activist
communities. *


This project aims to create knowledge about the lived experiences of
harm,
violence and abuse in radical activist communities in the United
Kingdom. It has a particular focus on exploring the experiences of
survivors affected by sexual violence including women, gender-queer and
transgender individuals. We aim to critically explore how activist
movements reproduce social power relations of gender, race, class
and sexuality that shape experiences of harm, violence and abuse. The
research also aims to discuss how useful the tools commonly used within
activist groups to combat sexual violence are (for example reading
groups,
community accountability projects, calling out/in, zines, discussion
groups
and workshops, safe(r) space or zero tolerance policies). The goal is to
co-construct knowledge and develop a network of survivors to work
towards
creating effective challenges to heterosexism within social justice
movements and activist communities.

*Call out to get involved in a research project on sexual violence in
activist communities*


Was your sexual abuser a high-profile activist? Have you felt unable to
speak out about it? Or have you spoken out about it only to be accused
of
making it up and/or dividing the movement? Did your anti-state activism
and/or experience of police brutality rule out going to the police? Were
you able to kick out your abuser using other methods? Did the
accountability process backfire? Did your abuser just move on to a
different group and do the same thing to someone else? Was the trans
community so small that you didn’t want your partner to lose it? Do you
want to be involved in taking action and challenging sexual violence in
activist communities?

We want to hear from survivors who identify as women, gender-queer or
trans
who are ready to talk about their experiences of sexual violence within
current or past organizing in radical social justice movements in the
UK.
This may have happened once or multiple times, we are interested in
hearing
from folks with a variety of experiences of sexual violence including
unwanted touching, flashing, harassment, stalking, sexual assault and
rape.

The salvage collective aims to bring together self-identified women,
queers
and transfolks who have experienced gender oppression, violence and
abuse
in activist communities to share experiences, resources and build
communities of belief, support and action. We got together through a
workshop on survivor-led approaches to gendered violence and abuse at
AFem
2014. This is our first research project. We aim to develop resources,
information and practical recommendations to work towards creating
effective challenges to gendered violence, abuse and harms within social
justice movements and communities.

If you are interested in getting involved and/or want more information
about this research project:

Web: https://projectsalvage.wordpress.com/research
<https://projectsalvage.wordpress.com/research>
E-mail: julia.downes at open.ac.uk
<julia....@open.ac.uk>Phone: Julia 01908 655455
Twitter: @Project_Salvage


Our project takes the issues of safety, confidentiality and research
ethics
very seriously. This project has been approved by the Human Research
Ethics
Committee at The Open University HREC/2015/2041/Downes/1