WOW and Birkbeck announce line up of Shameless! Festival of activism against sexual violence
The Shameless! Festival of Activism Against Sexual Violence is the first event of its kind and will bring together activism and art to confront and change attitudes towards sexual violence.
Birkbeck’s Sexual Harms and Medical Encounters project (SHaME) and the Women of the World (WOW) have announced the line-up for the Shameless! Festival, that is supported by the Wellcome Trust. The festival will be held at Battersea Arts Centre on Saturday 27 November.
SHaME is a research project that explores the role of medicine and psychiatry in sexual violence. Researchers from a number of disciplines work together to remove the shame associated with sexual violence in order to address this global health crisis. The WOW Shameless! Festival is run by The WOW Foundation, a charity that promotes gender equality worldwide through festivals, events and more.
The Shameless! Festival line-up includes actress and model Emily Ratajkowski who will discuss her debut book, My Body, an investigation into body politics and the festishisation of women and girls. Other speakers include Laura Bates, author, Soma Sara, Founder of Everyone’s Invited; and poet in residence for the Consent Collective, Tanaka Mhishi. The day will open with a session featuring Professor Joanna Bourke, Professor of History at Birkbeck and Principal Investigator of Birkbeck’s SHaME Project; Rachel Nwokoro, Founder of Black Minds; and Winnie M Li, best-selling author and former Writer in Residence at the SHaME project.
Professor Joanna Bourke commented: “Sexual violence is a global problem that needs to be addressed by us all. The Shameless! Festival encourages new ways of thinking and acting on how we can forge worlds where sexual harms have been eliminated. We want to hear your voices.”
Founder and CEO of The WOW Foundation Jude Kelly said: “Our WOW Festivals across the world are famous for candid conversations so we’ve created the Shameless Festival! to open up vital discussion around sexual violence. It's a day of action, but also a day to come together and build community. I'm thrilled to be concluding the day in conversation with Emily Ratajkowski, whose new book demonstrates the power of taking back ownership of your own stories. There's great solidarity in sharing stories, and Shameless Festival! will do that in a joyful and powerful day of exploration.”
Tickets are now available to buy via the Battersea Arts Centre website.
Further Information
- Shameless! Festival of Activism against sexual violence
- Sexual Harms and Medical Encounters (SHaME)
- The WOW Foundation