STOP! Sexual Violence
Sexual violence is unfortunately a reality among students in the Netherlands, as highlighted by the I&O Research report published this week. UM has done a similar study and the results will be published in fall.
Maastricht University has taken steps to prevent sexual violence. Flip-the-Script (EAAA) is an evidence-based sexual violence reduction training which was piloted at UM before the pandemic. In this training, female students learnt to debunk rape myths, how to spot potentially dangerous situations, how to de-escalate dangerous situations, and how to defend themselves if necessary. The pilot study was evaluated very favorably by all participants and next steps are being taken to finding a permanent home for the training at UM. UM students will be updated on the availability of the training via UM communication channels.
Support
If you, or anybody you know, has experienced street harassment or sexual violence and would like confidential support, we urge you to reach out to the following organisations and resources:
WeCare
A student support group that focuses on sexual assault and aftercare for your wellbeing: Facebook, Instagram, E-mail
WeCare can go through all your options, help you set up appointments with UM’s psychologist and/or confidential advisor, and assist you in taking legal action if that is what you wish.
If you prefer to go at this yourself, the following are helpful resources at your disposal:
Legal Support:
- Langzs – an organization which offers legal assistance to victims of sexual abuse; info@langzs.nl
- UM’s Student Police Contact – Remko Arets
- Juridisch Loket – an organization that provides free personal legal advice
Psychological and Emotional Support
- UM student confidential advisor – Wendy Geijen | +31 6 2803 5033
- UM staff confidential advisor – Marloes Rikof | 043 388 2513 or +31 6 5202 6508
- UM Psychologists – free and accessible counselling to students
Also read
-
Update 25 June
Last night a UM building at the Bouillonstraat was daubed with paint and slogans. A sad expression of vandalism. UM has filed a report.
-
A night in Tehran: rose water, saffron and pistachio
Niloofar Tahmasebi Birgani, assistant professor at the MERLN research institute, was born in southern Iran. It was only when she moved to the Netherlands in 2010 for her PhD research that she began cooking for herself. Instead of recipes, she uses intuition and memory to bring her mother’s and...
-
Exploration into potential new role for the Bonbonnière as Maastricht’s ‘house for culture, science and society’
Several Maastricht institutions, including Maastricht Universit, are collaborating with the municipality of Maastricht to explore new possibilities for the Bonbonnière, the city’s former theatre. This is the result of an initial meeting between a number of local organisations.
