Taking Matters into Our Own Hands

WRITTEN BY ALEXIS PALLISTER, Illustrated by maddy watt

Angry. Appalled. Frustrated. These were the emotions we felt at We Are Womxn when the National Student Survey results were released. The results made it evident that students from universities were unsure and confused about the services their campus’ offered concerning the reporting of assault and associated supports.

It shed light on a state-wide issue that students on university campuses were not aware of the support services avaiable to them concerning assault and rupporting assault, and so, were not accessing them. With all this in mind, We Are Womxn wanted to enact change, needed to take matters into our own hands, and thus we launched our project ‘Taking Matters into Our Own Hands’.

We Are Womxn is a health promotion organisation working to reduce women’s stigma in Perth, Western Australia. Bringing evidence-based and traumainformed bespoke health programs to young women. We Are Womxn works to channel the power of education and honest conversation to empower young women.

We Are Womxn provides a safe space to allow an opportunity for young women to ask tough questions, destigmatise typically “taboo” topics and enable women to feel empowered and confident. “

At We Are Womxn we strive to empower women by educating them about their bodies, sex, consent and how to communicate their wants and needs in today’s world, Co-founder Kate Raston said. “We want to change women’s lives. We want to empower them to be bold and loud and to take up space. And the way we do this is through education” Co-founder Nicolette Beard said.

The ‘Taking Matters into Our Own Hands’ project is a rally for better consent education through posters that visually depict consent. To create such posters, we had the honour of collaborating with local artist Maddy Watt. “I wanted to use sharp and chaotic imagery, with bold and loud colours, to reinforce the complex nature of consent.

Consent is not a simple yes or no, it is complex and confusing and at times can be really awkward and so I used a layering technique to act as a metaphor for just that; with each layer representing a different aspect of consent” said Maddy Watt.

The posters also act as a virtual educational platform guiding students to a range of resources created by We Are Womxn co-founders Kate Raston and Nicolette Beard, and engagement officer Alexis Pallister. These resources include mental health guides, consent guides, and links to websites detailing how to report and what to expect when reporting. By having all of the consent resources in one place, students that access to our platform will be left with a complete picture of what their next steps are in relation to reporting and accessing support.

We anticipate these easy-to-use resources will provide students with an in-depth knowledge of consent and what to do if consent is violated, and what support is available both on and off campus. We hope these posters instil confidence in students to access services and encourage them to continue the consent conversation. Through these resources students we believe students will feel empowered, educated, and equipped to deal with any issues that may arise around consent, changing their lives for the better!