The STOP Campaign launched their second zine, Reclaim the Narrative, last Thursday at Badger & Co. The STOP Campaign is a student-led campaign advocating for the eradication of sexual violence on Australian university campuses, and aims to provide empowerment and education on consent and respectful relationships.
The launch marked a “celebration of solidarity,” and welcomed approximately 75 guests, including Pro Vice-Chancellor (University Experience) Tony Foley, who attended as a representative of the ANU executive body. The zine publication features stories from survivors about healing and trauma, and aims to promote a positive, active movement towards solidarity with survivors, with an emphasis on increasing education and discussion about consent and respectful relationships.
The crowd warmly welcomed speeches from Dr Fiona Jenkins, former convenor of the ANU Gender Institute and a senior lecturer at the ANU, and Katrina Marson, a criminal lawyer and former Director of the ACT Child Abuse Royal Commission. They spoke of their experiences as feminist advocates and the challenges of the institutional betrayal that survivors face when speaking out about sexual violence, respectively.
Between the speeches, there were readings of survivors’ stories by members of the STOP Campaign, as well as comedy and music performances.
The Campaign Social Media Officer, Bianca Nicotra, commented that the launch “went really, really well compared to the first zine launch, with a lot more people, about double the amount, which is fitting because the zine is double as big.”
We acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, who are the Traditional Custodians of the land on which Woroni, Woroni Radio and Woroni TV are created, edited, published, printed and distributed. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. We acknowledge that the name Woroni was taken from the Wadi Wadi Nation without permission, and we are striving to do better for future reconciliation.