Our Story.The Consent Awareness and Sexual Education Group (CASE) was initially a club created and based at the University of Calgary, Canada. Founders, Ellen Bolger and Emily Leedham, unofficially created CASE in March of 2013, during a discussion about the lack of consent education within Calgarian public schools and universities. Prevention efforts around sexual assault had mostly been focused on preventing potential victims – with “safety tips” such as “Don’t walk alone at night”, “Don’t leave your drink unattended” and “Carry a whistle”. Such “tips” help to create a culture of victim blaming and fear, and do not address the root or reality of the problem: that someone in this scenario is trying (whether knowingly or unknowingly) to force unwanted sexual activity.
University of Aberdeen student Noémie Pirus-Hassid spent her year abroad at the University of Calgary where she became an activist against sexual assault. Her passion for this cause compelled her to establish a CASE here in Aberdeen where she became President of this student club. CASE Aberdeen started informally in September 2017 when Noémie contacted other women on Aberdeen’s Campus about potentially forming a group, many shared concern over this issue. CASE was established as a reaction to the lack of information available within Aberdeen University on sexual assault and rape. CASE recognised that there are no clear guidelines assisting survivors and we felt impelled to provide a network of support for survivors of sexual assault. Further, we highlight the University’s failure to acknowledge that there is an issue with consent on campus and thus aim to carry out research on campus into the prevalence of this issue which we know has affected many of us just from conversations on consent. University in particular is a place where “lad culture” lies dominant and many of us have felt the brunt of this.
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This is unacceptable behaviour which cannot be excused by any triviality. Now, starting our fourth year as a student group, we continue to strive to transform this into a Culture of Consent. We believe the University of Aberdeen is lacking measures in disciplinary actions against sexual assault reports, and must do more to prevent impunity for perpetrators. Our mission is to campaign for a culture of consent on our campus, in opposition to the rape culture which is prevalent in many student circles. With the overarching goal to reduce sexual assault at a local level in Aberdeen, as well as joining other University campaigns across Scotland and the rest of the UK to make a national difference and improve the wellbeing of all students nationwide. We continue to work with other student bodies such as the Women’s and Non-Binary Forum, the LGBTQ+ Forum and Aberdeen Feminist Society to ensure our campaign is student-led and all inclusive. Consent should be a universal right and we are dedicated to putting this right into practice here in Aberdeen.
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