Week 18 - People & context
- rosieglenwright
- Feb 10, 2020
- 6 min read
Updated: May 3, 2020
Meeting with WRASAC
This week I met with Lauren, a Sexual Violence Prevention Worker for Women's Rape & Sexual Abuse Centre (Dundee & Angus). The Prevention Project is a fun and interactive workshop for young people aged 11-25 years old around preventing sexual violence. The workshop sessions cover age appropriate topics such as consent, Gender, Sexualisation, Pornography, Social Media, What is sexual violence? How can we prevent sexual violence? Impact of sexual violence and support needs.
Pack of cards
It is important to keep the audience in mind when designing a fun but also educational interaction, The Prevention Project has age appropriate tasks that have been designed to educate the users and normalise certain topics. One of the workshops on 'What is Sexual Violence?' uses cards as a way to open up the conversation and inform the users of what can be defined as sexual violence and the impacts it can have on people. This is a fun and engaging way to find out what people's current perceptions and opinion's are on the topic but then also re-inform them with the correct information. A pack of cards is also used in the consent workshops as a way to clarify what is and what is not consent, again this is an effective way to learn the current views of the group and properly inform them with the correct information on such an important topic. Alcohol, clothing and withdrawing consent are also discussed in more detail so the students understand their rights.
Matching up stereotypes
Another exercise carried out in the workshops is around stereotypes, users are asked to pair up the stereotype (e.g. aggressive) with who they think would have the trait down to their appearance. The people to choose from include a mix of gender, age, ethnicity and even clothing, this is a good way to dispel the assumptions people have on certain people due to their appearance and encourage people not to be so quick to judge.
Case studies
Case studies are also another good way to interact with users, giving them a scenario and then a series of questions provides an in depth understanding of their current opinions on the scenario. The Prevention Project looks into Sexualisation and covers the problems around fancy dress costumes, the music industry and videos etc. It highlights the difference between males and females in these areas and how much women can be over sexualised in the media. The case studies also look into the pressures of not liking someone, one example included four young people, two males and two females. One of the males is strongly persuading his friend to have sex with one of the girls and starts insulting him and making homophobic comments when he does not want to. Another scenario is one of the girls wants to have sex but not with one of the boys in particular and her friend tries to persuade her to use him as a trial and performance. Both scenarios have been created to draw attention to the impacts that peer pressure can have on individuals and how problematic it can be.
Lauren also drew my attention to a variety of existing prevention projects including Pleasure Vs profit, The Rosey Project, The Everyday Sexism Project and HollaBack!
Pleasure Vs Profit
Growing up pornified in Scotland
"There is a growing concern about the commercialisation and sexualisation of children and young people (CYP), accompanied by the pornification of our mainstream culture. The two processes are closely linked and increasingly the messages put across in all forms of the media are that women are judged and valued on their appearance and sexual attractiveness. Children of younger ages are put under pressure to take on narrow gender roles and increasingly evidence shows that this is having an impact, particularly on girls and young women."
The Rosey Project
One of the things I found interesting with the Rosey Project was their approach to educating people about sexual harassment and violence. With the increasing number of women accessing support they decided that the best way to challenge this was to go out and talk to young people, boys and girls about the kind of things that are affecting them and forming their attitudes around sexual violence and to gauge what kind of understanding they have about sexual violence.
The Everyday Sexism Project
Another one of the projects Lauren told me to look up was The Everyday Sexism Project. Straight away this project caught my attention, for the past couple of months I have been so focussed on the issue of sexual harassment that I have almost been ignoring the invisible problem of casual everyday sexism right in front of me.
I bought the book as soon as I got home and it arrived yesterday, I am only a couple of pages in but I have already found it extremely relatable.
Laura discusses how her tipping point wasn't anything dramatic or extreme, or even particularly out of the ordinary. It was just another week of small what seemed like insignificant encounters that she was just putting up with day to day.
She goes on to say, "It had never occurred to me that the convoluted routes and extra precautions, the changed clothes and hastily swept-up hair were anything other than ordinary. Planning strategies to get through the day with the least possible exposure to unwanted attention and harassment was simply a part of being a woman that I accepted; as much of a necessary routine as carry a spare tampon in my purse."
Laura talks about the importance of the simple act of sharing stories and raising awareness and how it is able to give both women and men the strength and the impetus to make changes. The sense of solidarity that also comes with sharing stories can make huge difference, because women no longer feel they're standing up to street harassment alone.
Despite living in a country where women are treated rather equal in comparison to other parts of the world, Laura highlights the inequality and pattern of casual intrusion whereby women are leered at, touched, harassed and abused without a second thought. This book is drawing attention to the invisible problem of day to day sexism and I am excited to continue reading it.
Hollaback!
"Hollaback is a movement to end street harassment powered by a network of local activists around the world. We work together to better understand street harassment, to ignite public conversations, and to develop innovative strategies to ensure equal access to public spaces."
Manifesto
"We all have the right to be who we are, wherever we are.
It’s time to transform the culture that perpetuates harassment and violence.
Let’s build a world where all people have the freedom to move through public space, participate in civic life, and reach their full potential.
In this world, those who have experienced harassment, like women, LGBTQ+ individuals, people of color, and people with disabilities, will feel safe as they walk down the street, go to school, sit in the park, attend a public protest, or participate online or in media.
This world will have more than just the absence of harassment. People will recognize each other’s full dignity.
We believe that love is an act of resistance, and that action is futile without community.
It’s time to build the power of people to have each other’s backs.
We all have the right to be who we are, whatever that means that day, that hour, that minute.
We all have the power to end harassment."
Allport's Scale
Shows the manifestation of prejudice in society
Gordon Allport was a psychologist and he created the Allport's Scale in 1954. It's a measure of the manifestation of prejudice in a society. The scale contains 5 stages of prejudice, ranked by the increasing harm they produce. Allport saw prejudice and racism as central to understanding the Holocaust, the scale shows how smaller acts of bullying can escalate into much more serious form abuse and in turn genocide.
Meeting with Lauren was extremely helpful as she provided me with a better insight of how to raise awareness about issues such as sexual harassment in an engaging informative way. She was able to point me in the direction of existing prevention projects that aim to change people's current perspectives and behaviours towards gender discrimination and sexism.
Next steps:
Gather more primary research - think about the power of gathering stories
Look at existing interactive installations
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