Shetland teen's project to end gender-based violence receives police backing

A post on Shetland Rape Crisis's Facebook page shared 66 stories of abuse from all genders across Shetland - although the vast majority of accounts in the #WisToo project detailed incidents against young women and girls as young as eight years old.

Rhea is a volunteer with BEE (Bold, Equal and Empowered), Shetland Rape Crisis’s young activists group.

In an introduction to the report published at the beginning of August, Rhea told of how she was inspired by the #MeToo movement. She said:

"I wanted to show that sexual harassment is as much of a problem in Shetland as it is anywhere else.

"Just because we live in a peerie rural community does not mean that we are safe from these kinds of behaviour."

She added: "I expected a lot of responses, but I was shocked by the sheer amount that came in and the seriousness of the incidents described.

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"As well as stories of sexual harassment, I received stories of sexual coercion, assault, abuse and rape - a lot of which had occurred against children and young people."

All stories were anonymised before sharing.

Now, Police Scotland has said its backing Rhea's attempts to end gender-based violence in Shetland, and working with partners Shetland Rape Crisis and Shetland Women’s Aid to ask people to be vigilant and to report offenders to help prevent such cases.

Inspector Martyn Brill said: “Reading those accounts was shocking in terms of the extent of sexual offending against women and other young, vulnerable people of other genders in our community and the seriousness of this unreported criminality happening across Shetland.

“However, what disturbs me most is that there are individuals in our community who think it is OK to behave in this way. My message to them is: this is not OK, it is unacceptable.

“There are many forms of gender-based violence, including sexual violence and domestic abuse. There are also many excuses used by offenders to shift the blame and explain their criminal actions.

“There are no excuses and the blame for any form of gender-based abuse, most of which is perpetrated by men against women but can be committed by anyone against anyone, lies with the perpetrator.

“It is up to all of us to recognise gender-based violence, challenge it and support those who have experienced it.

“Anyone who has been a victim of abuse or violence, or knows someone who has been a victim, can talk to us. We can help. We will listen and we will investigate. And we will continue to work with our partners to ensure support is available and to help make our communities safe for everyone.”

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Lisa Ward, service manager at the charity, said: “Shetland Rape Crisis can support you however you choose to proceed – whether you want to make a formal report or whether you would prefer to access emotional support or trauma therapy – we are here for you. The choice is yours and we follow your lead to recovery.

“We support survivors of all genders, backgrounds, and experiences; for those affected recently or a long time ago; recovery is possible.”

Laura Stronach, of Shetland Women’s Aid, said: “The kind of behaviours exposed here are absolutely unacceptable and no-one should have to go through any of these experiences.

“If you have been affected by anything mentioned in this article, please talk to someone about it.”

Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart also paid tribute to the work of the charity, and Rhea, saying: “The stories that courageous people from across Shetland have shared make difficult reading.

“There is work to do to educate both young and old and get rid of this kind of unacceptable behaviour but this is also an opportunity to make things better, as a society and as a community.

“I am glad that support services exist in Shetland, and that, through Rhea and Shetland Rape Crisis, people have been given a voice.

“I know from my work with Women’s Aid that there is help available if anyone needs it and I would urge anyone who is struggling with their experience to contact these services.”