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Lisa's avatar

Brilliant piece, hope it gets read by the people who need to be better paying attention.

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Estrella M's avatar

This post was everything

I kinda wrote about my own experiences and feelings post watching the show and it would mean the world to get your take on it

https://open.substack.com/pub/thirdgenfeminist/p/i-am-constantly-scared-of-being-assaulted?r=48d0tj&utm_medium=ios

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Laura's avatar

Reading this made me cry, thank you so much Gina. I had to stop watching after episode 3 triggered my c-ptsd, it was the closest thing I've ever seen on TV to my own experience of a family member, and yet it was just a tiny glimpse through a TV screen. It can not show the reality because it is just a TV programme. I know from my own experience that showing this in schools will do no good when the schools themselves, social services and the NHS are ill equipped to deal with young male violence, the causes and the impact it has. Again, thank you for all you work and every single one of your words (including the fuck me's) ❤️

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Tessa's avatar

These politicians are making it so clear that they have not spent time with teenagers! The teenagers I know and work with are so thoughtful (and generally have progressive views surrounding them already) but they still require so much support in working through emotional topics like this. A space for them to work through it would be great, and I can see how I’m an ideal world schools would be a place for this. However we know that they aren’t safe spaces always and teachers are as you have rightly pointed out not trained to deal with this!

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Ivy Blanche's avatar

thank you for this! this is hugely relevant and yes! discourse, communication, nuance are key. and a willingness to understand. it’s not okay to just fill classrooms full of young people with more content and undiscussed and possibly triggering information.

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Issey Scott's avatar

Keir aside, in the sector I work in (and many others) what we’d call “expert by lived experience” is how we would call people from perhaps non-traditional backgrounds who definitely have something to contribute to the discourse.

While I really appreciate the points being made, people without the supposedly relevant academic/professional backgrounds can also very much be experts in these themes by lived experience. On a basic level, it’s the internet, so everyone is going to chime in with an opinion regardless of expertise. This one seems to be far less harmful than opinions we’re used to seeing on a regular basis tbh.

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Gina Martin's avatar

Yeah I’d absolutely agree that academia isn’t the route to validity in this work. I didn’t want to specify the training and experience because that’s 100% true. It’s the most colonial thing in the work to only define people’s value in this work by specific training. Most of the people I work with came to this work because of lived experience and learnt on the job. I consider a lot of people experts who have no training but heaps of experience for sure.

There’s lots of good content around this but there has been just as much colluding and unhelpful/ sensationalist and overly simplistic content that’s well intentioned too, which is what that’s what I’m referencing here.

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Lucy H's avatar

Absolutely brilliant, fucking mic drop 👏 👏👏👏 I'd send this as a letter directly to his office!!!

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