Freshers offered vital advice on harassment

Queen’s University freshers are being urged to join an online workshop and discussion about sexual harassment as they begin their first year at the college.
By Helen McGurk
Published 16th Sep 2020, 12:16 BST
Helen Crickard and Elaine Crory from the Raise Your Voice project and Roisin Muirhead and Chloe Ferguson from Queen’s University Students Union launch a new online workshop on Sexual Harassment for Fresher’s Week.Helen Crickard and Elaine Crory from the Raise Your Voice project and Roisin Muirhead and Chloe Ferguson from Queen’s University Students Union launch a new online workshop on Sexual Harassment for Fresher’s Week.
Helen Crickard and Elaine Crory from the Raise Your Voice project and Roisin Muirhead and Chloe Ferguson from Queen’s University Students Union launch a new online workshop on Sexual Harassment for Fresher’s Week.

The Raise Your Voice project, run by a consortium of Northern Ireland’s leading women’s groups, is hosting a ‘Let’s Talk About Sexual Harassment’ event for first year students.

Roisin Muirhead, QUB equality and diversity officer, said it was important to use online discussions to get the message out about sexual violence and misogyny at a time when face-to-face meetings have been severely curtailed.

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She added: “Experiences of sexual harassment in all its forms can be extremely damaging and there are many barriers to students seeking support, whether it be a fear of stigma or simply not knowing how to report the incident. It is a pervasive and complex issue to tackle, but there is a growing student movement challenging the lack of understanding surrounding sexual consent.”

Helen Crickard from Raise Your Voice said: “The QUB workshop will be interactive, engaging and will provide an understanding of the devastating impact of sexual harassment. We want to explain that even the smallest incident can have life-changing consequences, it is not just about sexual violence and rape.”

A comprehensive student survey carried out last year laid bare the extent of sexual harassment in Northern Ireland’s third level education institutions with one in three students revealing they had experienced unwanted sexual behavior during their time at university or college.

The NUS-USI kNOwMORE report, which received feedback from 2,200 students across Northern Ireland, called for improved Relationships and Sex (RSE) training in secondary schools and for additional support for victims and survivors of sexual assault. Raise Your Voice is also hosting free workshops open to all members of the public, not just students, on Sexual Harassment on September 22 and on Consent on September 24, both from 7-8.30pm. A further eight online workshops will take place in October and November.

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*To sign up for the Sexual Harassment workshop go to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lets-talk-about-sexual-harassment-tickets-120210100647 and for the Consent workshop go to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/want-to-know-more-about-consent-tickets-120240082323

Related topics:Northern IrelandRelationships

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