Raise Your Voice is part of the Gillen Education & Awareness Working Group, set up to work on implementing the recommendations of the Gillen Review around education and myth busting. The focus of this group is to find ways to increase awareness of the myths that exist about sexual violence. These myths, often called “rape myths” are false beliefs and have lots of different forms, for example about why sexual violence occurs, how victims should behave, who can be a victim, or more. They can contribute to making the legal process very difficult and they have an impact on survivors and society at large, helping to normalise what is in fact sexual violence.
There is work ongoing regarding Relationships & Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools, but the Gillen Review agrees with our position that education does not end in schools. As a result, there will be a major public awareness programme rolling out early in 2022.
Raise Your Voice has worked with other colleagues across the sector and beyond to put together a survey that will be used to help shape that campaign. It is open to everyone over the age of 16, it does not take long to complete, and it runs until November 15th. It asks questions about the most common myths, the kind of campaign you would like to see and how you would like to see it, and there are opportunities to make further suggestions. We encourage everyone to take a few minutes to complete the survey and to share it with anyone you think may wish to complete it:
