{"id":366,"date":"2019-05-13T14:59:27","date_gmt":"2019-05-13T13:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/?p=366"},"modified":"2019-05-13T15:08:59","modified_gmt":"2019-05-13T14:08:59","slug":"uwe-bristol-taking-pro-active-action-and-working-collaboratively-with-students-uwe-student-union-staff-and-the-city-of-bristol-to-tackle-gender-based-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/uwe-bristol-taking-pro-active-action-and-working-collaboratively-with-students-uwe-student-union-staff-and-the-city-of-bristol-to-tackle-gender-based-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"UWE Bristol to Tackle Gender Based Violence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

UWE Bristol is taking a pro-active action and working collaboratively with students, UWE Student Union, staff and the city of Bristol to tackle Gender Based Violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I (Helen Bovill<\/a>) recently spoke at two events in Bristol, at City Hall; exploring the research and provision at UWE aimed at interrupting and preventing gender based violence (GBV). I was really pleased to be invited to be part of the panel closing the day in the Bristol Zero Tolerance room (BZT<\/a>) at the Bristol Women\u2019s Voice (BWV<\/a>) International Women\u2019s Day celebration on March 2nd<\/sup> 2019<\/a>. I joined in conversation with an expert panel of speakers from Safegigs4women<\/a>, Somerset and Avon Rape and Sexual Abuse support (SARSAS<\/a>), Stand Against Racism (SARI<\/a>) and feminist performers Deborah Antoinette<\/a> and China Fish. At this event I discussed the research I am involved in regarding GBV and UWE\u2019s proactive approach to GBV as part of SpeakUp<\/a> \u2013 this is a UWE collaboration between: UWE students, UWE Student Union, UWE staff, and external Stakeholders; (BZT<\/a>), (SARSAS<\/a>) and (SARI<\/a>). The SpeakUp campaign asks students and staff at UWE to speak up when a situation does not feel right. The campaign emphasises safety first and foremost, and aims to work with students and staff to develop the knowledge and skills to be pro-active bystanders. It has developed films (see below) which have a tag line of \u2018inappropriate behaviour, appropriate action\u2019. The campaign is focused on enabling and sustaining \u2018an inclusive campus where diversity is celebrated, antisocial attitudes and behaviours are challenged and any type of harassment, assault and discrimination aren’t acceptable. We want you to SpeakUp if you see or hear something that’s not right, and be an active bystander.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students,\nstaff and the Students\u2019 Union at UWE are committed to developing and\ncultivating an inclusive campus for all our students to thrive within. We are\nproud to work in close partnership to continually review our approach to sexual\nviolence and harassment on campus and ensure we have effective proactive\ncampaigns in place, as well as vigorous support mechanisms. Rachel Colley (Community Manager at The\nStudents\u2019 Union at UWE), Dr Helen Bovill (Associate Head of Department Research and Scholarship),\nAna Miguel Lazaro<\/a>\n(Student Inclusivity Project Officer, UWE) and Charlotte Gage (Bristol Zero Tolerance)\nrecently spoke at a second event in the City. This time at the Bristol Forum \u2018Creating positive action\nthrough research and collaboration\u2019 event on Friday March 29th<\/sup> 2019\nat City Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\nspoke about \u2018Collaborative problem solving to address the challenges students\nface in relation to sexual and domestic violence\u2019. Helen discussed bystander\nintervention as part of the SpeakUp campaign, Ana\nand Rachel spoke about the wider work of the campaign within UWE and the\ninvolvement of the Student Union at UWE within this. For example, discussing\nthat more than 5000 UWE Fresher\u2019s students received messages from the SpeakUp<\/a>\ncampaign during induction. The five short films<\/a>,\ndeveloped by UWE as part of the Office For Students (OFS) funded social norms\ncampaign, formed part of this induction. These films explore issues of:\n\u2018unwanted touching and groping\u2019, \u2018consent\u2019, \u2018inappropriate use of social\nmedia\u2019, \u2018domestic abuse\u2019, and \u2018initiation and humiliation ceremonies\u2019, they can\nbe found here<\/a>.  Helen, Ana and Rachel talked about student\ninvolvement in the research that underpinned the social norms campaign, with\nUWE students identifying these five social norms as problematic in student\nlife. They also discussed how UWE works with students and the city of Bristol,\nwith an understanding that UWE students are ambassadors for the University in\nthe city of Bristol and beyond. Charlotte Gage from BZT discussed working with\nUWE on this campaign and the collaborative approaches used. She also considered\nthe wider work regarding GBV and BZT within Bristol such as the Stop\nStreet Harassment Campaign<\/a>. Both talks\ndemonstrated that UWE sees itself at the forefront of measures to counteract\nGBV, and is working in a pro-active and collaborative manner with both students\nand the city of Bristol. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nyou are passionate to support this work, why not join the new Speak\nUp Society<\/a>! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nmore information, please click the following links:<\/p>\n\n\n\n