Hello all,
Thank you so much for your time.
Despite the MeToo movement casting a wide-reaching net of education and solidarity, the sad and frightening reality is that the number of sexual crimes which are successfully prosecuted is still at an all-time low – less than 2% in the UK*
Survivors of rape, sexual assault, predatory behaviour, violence, and coercion are becoming more empowered and vocal, choosing a variety of mediums to begin the journey of healing or simply find solidarity with others who have experienced the same pain.
In response, survivors are often threatened with legal retaliation (in the form of gagging orders, threats to sue for defamation etc), violence, blackmail, and isolation.
Watching this play out in real time online spurred a call to action for a small group of UK-based black women who, since opening their arms for survivors experiencing any of the aforementioned behaviour, were inundated with responses from women across the world.
The UK Survivor’s Fund is designed to do three things:
- Provide financial assistance to survivors who need to retain legal counsel or seek legal advice to defend their position against gagging orders, defamation threats and other legal matters;
- Provide financial assistance to survivors who are dealing with trauma and need to remove the barriers that make therapy and counselling inaccessible;
- Provide financial assistance to survivors who are in an unstable or precarious living situation and need to temporarily relocate
Our primary goal is £15,000 and with this, we hope this will:
- Fund 15 women with a month or more of therapy/counselling (25%)
- Pay for lawyers and legal assistance. Funds will be administered through CrowdJustice (30%)
- Help pay for temporary accommodation and emergency care packages for victims (10%)
- Charitable donations to all three of our partners (listed below) who are doing excellent work in aiding survivors of gendered violence and abuse (30% split between each organisation)
5% of the fund will be used to cover administrative costs.
We are partnering with HERSANA, a UK based non-profit organisation which provides Black survivors of gendered violence, aged 16 and over, with free short-term or long-term counselling, as well as helpline, advocacy and outreach services. We will be allocating a portion of all funds to donate to HERSANA.
We are also partnering with The Gemini Project, UK based non-profit organisation aiming to end sexual violence through advocacy and campaigns. The Gemini Project is working tirelessly to champion a change in law which would prevent survivors from being slapped with gagging orders. The petition can be found here. We will be allocating a portion of all funds to donate to The Gemini Project.
Our third partner is Centre for Women's Justice, a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping women and girls who are subject to male violence get better access to legal remedies to defend and enhance their rights. We will be allocating a portion of all funds to donate to CWJ.
We have also reached out to a number of therapists, counsellors and legal practitioners across the UK, some of whom have offered their services at reduced rates, so we can effectively pair survivors with easily accessible support.
We hope that this is a cause you can support and/or share widely.
Questions are welcome and can be sent to: [email protected]
Thank you again.
* Figure via Home Office and analysed by the Guardian