Helping working-class women be heard: Comedian Janey Godley to speak at sexual violence research event

Comedian, author and award-winning writer Janey Godley will join Glasgow Caledonian University’s Dr Karen Lorimer as she reveals working-class women’s experiences of sexual violence at an online seminar on Tuesday, January 16, from 12pm-1pm.

Dr Lorimer, Reader in Social Science, from the School of Health and Life Sciences’ Research Centre for Health (ReaCH), and other members of the research team Prof Lesley McMillan and Pamela Ritchie, will present the findings of the study 'Disclosing Stories: working-class women's experiences of sexual violence' on Zoom. To register to attend the seminar, follow this link.

The study is funded by The British Academy/Leverhulme, which explores working-class women's experiences of sexual violence, their disclosure experiences, or decisions not to disclose, and how able they feel to access support.

Dr Lorimer said: "Despite decades of feminist research and activism, and the recent spotlight on sexual violence through the #MeToo movement, there is still much to be done to prevent sexual violence and respond to it appropriately.

"Perhaps surprisingly, certain voices remain conspicuously absent from the evidence-base. We know little about working-class women, despite higher experiences of sexual violence reported by girls and women from lower socio-economic groups. While gender is obviously central to our understanding of sexual violence, we should not focus solely on gender, as this can obscure the lived reality of women from low-income backgrounds."

Dr Lorimer asked Janey to speak at the event as she has personal experience of the consequences of men’s violence against women as her own mother was murdered.

Dr Lorimer said: “The women in the study said that too often their voices are not heard, so by having Janey speak at the event we hope to help these women’s voices be heard. We are very grateful for Janey giving her time.”

Janey Godley said: “It’s important to speak out about sexual violence, having loudly expressed my own past childhood experiences, I look forward to hearing and sharing women’s perspectives and encouraging others to speak out.”