Content Warning: This article mentions street and sexual harassment which some readers may find distressing.

Second-year English Literature student Heidi Downing has taken on a research project based on experiences that 97% of women are devastatingly all too familiar with. Using her passion for art, she hopes to highlight important issues of sexual harassment, hoping that her project will inspire as many people as possible to speak up. I sat down with her as she talked about her exciting plans. 

Can you give us a brief overview of what The 97% Project is and what it aims to achieve?

The 97% is a research and development project which is in collaboration with the Live Art, Drama and Theatre Society as part of their drama proposals. You can either propose a show idea or a research idea so it’s the research side of that. Within that, as well as looking at the usual arts like drama, theatre and creative writing, I wanted to add an activism strand to help to lots of research on issues that I think are really important at the uni, which I think have really affected students especially over the last year, such as catcalling and street harassment in and around Selly Oak and campus.

It will definitely have a big impact on a lot of people. What inspired you to do this project? Does it reflect on personal experiences you or those close to you have faced?

I was really moved by the vigil at the Vale last year and it really made me feel like I wanted to do something myself to help people out. I thought it would be nice for more people on the drama side to get involved, with it being a collaboration between arts and activism. It opens it up to lots of people who might be familiar with one but not with the other.

Also, last year a lot of marches and certain protests were meant to take place but then were cancelled due to COVID regulations whilst other events continued which made me question why this issue was being neglected. If it wasn’t for Covid reasons, it must have been for wider reasons. I wanted to give a voice to that issue because I did feel like it was being more neglected and pushed to the side.

I know that I’ve talked to lots of friends and people who felt like it affected them but they didn’t really feel like they knew exactly what to do and what resources were available. Lots of friends who I talked to just accepted it. I didn’t really feel like that was right and after my own personal experiences over the summer, I didn’t want to feel like I was just going to accept it myself.

I thought that the project would help give students a voice and to feel like they were being heard. I know that the university is trying to implement more initiatives but sometimes it can take a long time to do that so it felt like it was quite urgent; as many initiatives and projects which address that should be implemented as soon as possible which is why I was desperate to get started on the fabric of this project.

It’s amazing that you’ve taken it upon yourself to act on this. How important is it to you that this issue gets addressed?

It’s definitely of high importance to me. Some things are not spoken about enough – where you can find resources, how you can safely report something, what happens in the aftermath of reporting something? There’s a lot of that which people don’t know about, with them being almost scared of that. It feels like lots of people are being silenced on this issue and even if this project gets one more person thinking in a different way will mean that the project achieves its aims. Hopefully, it will help create a sense of a friendly and welcoming community that people can feel safe in.

It sounds like the project has the ability to change people’s lives for the better. Do you hope that the project will give students the platform to speak out about their personal experiences of sexual harassment?

Yeah, I know sometimes when people have such a challenging experience, it can be hard to find a means of expression for it. I’ve always found in the past that it can be really useful to use creativity as an output for that. Within the 97% Project I’ve organised a few creative workshops, including one coming up with Writers’ Bloc, which will give people a chance to write about this issue and reflect on personal experiences.

There’s also a creative workshop with Live Art in which people can create clay sculptures or do drawings, bouncing off of each other’s creativity. I’m also in the process of trying to organise an open mic night at the end of semester one which people can get involved in. All the money that would be raised from that event would help me fund putting on a full-length production in semester two. Hopefully, these events will help spread the word and keep everyone talking about the project.

It sounds like there’s something for everyone. Do you think that communicating the message through the power of art will help gain better engagement on the topic?

It definitely helps me anyway! I’ve seen it done at other issue-based events in the past and I think you’re more likely to want to watch a night of music and poetry than just a night of speeches and debates. It can really help you engage with an issue in a new way. You can have a catchy song in your head all day and link it back to that important issue.

What steps do you think society needs to take to limit and prevent catcalling and sexual harassment?

It’s definitely important that we try and shift the focus from victim-blaming and start thinking about the perpetrators. Serious action needs to be taken so they don’t get away with what they have done. Also, there’s been a big thing about victims feeling guilty as if it’s their fault, getting shamed for what they wear when they walk down the street; we need to make it very clear that they are not to blame. It can happen to anyone and perpetrators are the ones who need to face the consequences of their actions.

There are definitely things we can implement to make people feel safer such as having more helplines, better street lighting at night. Even more accessible modes of safe transport for uni students; the Selly Express is useful but it’s limited to those living in one area. There are existing things that we could just expand to make everyone feel safer. 

Finally, are there other ways in which people can get involved with the project if they are unable to attend the live events?

The project has its own Instagram page so I definitely recommend following that. It will have updates on workshops and ways to get involved. There will also be a series of confidential interviews and opportunities to submit personal anecdotes online that will help act as research for the play. Even if you don’t want to attend in-person events, spreading the word and contributing in some way will help. 

I’ve chosen to collaborate with Writers’ Bloc and Live Art which are both really inclusive and welcoming spaces for everyone. You don’t have to have any writing or artistic abilities to get involved; it’s purely a way of individual expression that you don’t have to share with anyone if you don’t want to. You can get involved as little or as much as you want.

More Related Articles:

We Are the 97% (Part One)

‘I would never run outside by myself’: Sexual Harassment and Sport at UoB

Are the Police Doing Enough to Prevent Violence Against Women? The Short Answer is No.