BÜRO FÜR

GLEICHSTELLUNGSFRAGEN

"We are looking/Wir sehen hin" is the name of an existing initiative by a student group to make sexual harassment in Magdeburg visible from the perspective of those affected. The goal is to lay the foundation for debate and change. The initiative would like to draw attention to the extent of the everyday nature of sexual harassment and also support those affected.

Interview

How did the idea for your project come about?

The project came about as a result of my own experiences with sexual violence, but above all as a result of an act of violence that happened to a friend of one of the founding members. This gave rise to the idea of setting up a project against sexualized violence, and within one night an appropriate concept was developed. This is also where the idea of drawing attention to the issue through testimonials on Instagram was born. At the beginning, the project team consisted of two people, but we quickly realized that we needed support. The concept is to make this problem public in order to hopefully encourage people to rethink. It should no longer be considered normal when something like this happens to people, regardless of their gender or orientation.

What distinguishes a diverse university for you?

We believe that a diverse university is characterized by listening to everyone and being tolerant of everyone. And that people don't close their eyes and cover their ears, and above all that everyone is allowed to speak their mind.

How can your project contribute to this?

Our project contributes to the fact that we serve as a mouthpiece for those affected by sexualized violence and that they have a platform to which they can turn. In this respect, we have also received very positive feedback. Many are happy to be able to communicate. Most of them keep their experiences to themselves and can't or don't want to talk about them with friends or acquaintances.

Can you imagine how your project will continue?

Yes, the project should not only serve as a mouthpiece. Therefore we would like to organize a workshop on self-defense together with other associations in Magdeburg. We would like to communicate a bit more with our community. In addition, we would like to generally go a bit more in the direction of educational work and, in the long term, not only point out the problems, but we also want to offer solutions.