Press

19 December 2013

News release: for immediate issue from Embrace Arts

Transcending the Trauma of Gender Violence? Creatively exploring empowering responses at Embrace Arts

On 31 January 2014, Embrace Arts, the University of Leicester’s Arts Centre, will bring together artists, survivors, support organisations, and local communities to creatively explore the causes and effects and find empowering responses to gender violence.

The event, Speaking Out, will address the difficult issue of gender violence, moving the debate forward and offering a positive contribution to social policy. With a focus on the survivor’s perspective as the creative subject without victimising, blaming or seeking to hit back, Speaking Out will enable a significant shift from ‘victims’ as the object of voyeuristic discourse to survivors as the arbiters of their own selves.

As event curators, Dr Nicole Fayard and Stella Couloutbanis, commented:

“There is an urgent need for a wider debate about the magnitude of gender violence’s effects on survivors and society at large. News coverage of domestic violence generally focuses on high profile, extreme cases, but this reduces awareness of ‘everyday’ forms of domestic violence and other behaviours affecting people. In particular, the scale of the problem for disabled victims is rarely debated.

We hope that the opportunities for experience and information-sharing Speaking Out provides will help remove some of the barriers to isolation.”

This one-day symposium is open to all. Speakers include Judge Sureta Chana, Victims Representative, Kenya Case 1 at International Criminal Court and expert for the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, and artist Villayat ‘SnowMoon Wolf’ Sunkmanitu, who raises awareness around PTSD.

Speaking out takes place on Friday 31 January 2014, 10am – 5pm at Embrace Arts, Richard Attenborough Centre, Lancaster Road, Leicester LE1 7HA. The event will be followed by a performance SSoCiaL and drinks reception.

Tickets are £35 / £20 (students) / £7 (disabled patrons, artists and the unwaged).  To book your place, visit www.embracearts.co.uk or telephone 0116 252 2455

The Speaking Out exhibition and symposium was covered widely in the media, below shows a selection of publications and online listings.

Leicester Mercury – 19 February

Daily Mail – 10 February 2014

Writtle College – January 2014

Womens9 – No date provided 

Trendhunter – 24 February

Ticklepress – 11 February 

The gloss – 12 February

The Australian Women’s Weekly – 11 February

PSFK – 19 February 

News.com – 12 February 

National headlines.co.uk – 10 February 

My Fox Atlanta – 13 February 

Malaysian Digest – 12 February 

Khaskhabar – No date provided 

ivillage – 11 February

Impactforwomen.org – 14 February 

ibnlive.in – 25 February

IAC Knowledge – 13 February 

IAfrica – 12 February

Huffington Post – 11 February

Hotnewsonline.org – 12 February

Grabzon – 20 February 

Good.is – 17 February 

FD2D – 20 December 

Essex Chronicle – 9 February 

Design Taxi – 14 February 

Crispandco – 12 February 

Buzzli – 20 February

Buzz feed – 19 February 

Brunch news – 11 February

Braintreeandwithamtimes.co.uk – 24 February

Adelaidenow– 12 February

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