I'm Lisa; one of the new Student Support Advisers, specialising in Gender-Based-Violence (GBV) prevention and intervention at the University of Aberdeen.
I joined the University in August 2022, having moved on from a role in residential children’s services. Prior to that, I worked for a third sector agency providing trauma-focused support for vulnerable children and families in addition to my role as a volunteer support worker at Rape Crisis Grampian. This role has brought with it a new set of challenges and I am very much looking forward to my future here.
In 2016, one of our students, Emily Drouet, took her own life following an abusive relationship with her partner. Since Emily’s death, her parents – Fiona and Germain – have launched a charity, EmilyTest, to support students who have experienced GBV. Fiona Drouet has been a leading voice in campaigns to raise awareness of GBV in Higher Education and has worked with institutions across Scotland to improve policies, procedures, and practices, enhancing support for both staff and students. The charity’s latest project is the creation of a GBV Charter which aims to ensure consistent high standards in GBV prevention and intervention across Scotland and the rest of the UK.
The University of Aberdeen is one of only seven Universities in Scotland to be engaging with this Charter. One of my main responsibilities is to help co-ordinate our progress in this area, in collaboration with partnership agencies like Police Scotland and NHS Grampian. Something I’ve been dedicating a lot of time to is rolling out the LISTEN training (created and facilitated by EmilyTest). LISTEN is a conversational tool which equips staff with the knowledge and confidence to manage initial disclosures of GBV and outlines how to seek support for themselves and/or students thereafter. Over 100 staff have been trained so far, but I would love to see every member of staff trained – a goal for the future!
I also clerk the Addressing GBV and Sexual Harassment Strategy Group, the aim of which is to identify and drive the changes needed to combat GBV at the University and to set our strategic goals in this area. Recently, the group has been raising awareness of GBV and related support (both internal and external) by holding pop-up stalls across various campus locations (see above– free sweets and pens brought a lot of interest!). Engagement from students and staff has been fantastic, and it’s been interesting to hear how views about GBV differ across genders, cultures and even schools! These will be held monthly going forward, and each one will focus on a specific aspect of GBV.
Our Strategy Group is also hosting a panel discussion on the topic of Consent as part of NO MORE week. This event is taking place on Monday 6th March, 2pm-4pm and will bring together students, staff, and colleagues from partnership agencies to discuss the issue of consent in relation to incidents of sexual misconduct. The panel will address key topics in the field before inviting the audience to participate in a Q&A session. An opportunity to take part in a wellbeing session with refreshments will follow. For more information about this event and to book your place, please click here. I hope to see some of you there!
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me via student.support@abdn.ac.uk if you have any questions about the work we are doing, would like to share some ideas or would like to access some support.