Why did you become an activist, what was your motivation?
Chayn happened by chance. I helped two friends escape abusive marriages and we experienced significant challenges in finding basic information like their rights and how to cope with trauma. I thought if I could just put together critical information in simple language online, it could change lives and solve real problems. That’s how Chayn started.
What are the most common factors that lead to an increase in GBV?
We know that any stressor event, be it pregnancy, job stress, financial stress, holiday, sporting events, and climate emergencies can lead to an increase in cases of domestic violence. There is some strong evidence from Australia and the US about how the start of university terms has a significant spike in sexual assault cases on campuses.
What are the biggest challenges to reducing and eliminating GBV?
The hardest work is recognising and undoing the work of patriarchy and rape culture in our minds, pop culture, education, conversations and the very ways we see each other’s role in society. People are so used to patriarchal norms being ‘set’ and ‘this is the way it is’ or ‘has always been’ that it’s hard to break through that. Where feminist movements have successfully pushed against it and gained some wins, we are seeing a real pushback from men whether it’s through authoritarian governments, the clampdown on queer rights and reproductive justice, or the rise of the manosphere.
How does your organisation support women in Manchester?
Chayn creates digital, multilingual resources to support the healing of survivors of gender-based violence. Our focus is on empowering women and other marginalised genders who have experienced domestic, sexual, or tech-facilitated abuse. Every decision we make – and every resource we create – has lived experience at its core. Survivors can use our Manipulation is Abuse guide to understand if they are in an abusive situation or take our Bloom courses (in 6 languages) about recovering from trauma and share their reflections with our team. It’s all free and online.
How can we show more support and get more involved in making a change?
There’s so much we can all do. It’s a collective responsibility.
Our streets, workplaces, homes and public spaces online and offline need to be safe for everyone. We need a change in our culture. We need an uprooting of patriarchal norms. By calling out ‘boys will be boys’, rape jokes, romanticing stalking or talking about control and jealousy as passion – we need to talk about consent and relationships. This should tell children about healthy relationships, and how to respect women. Men need to take responsibility on calling out lad culture among their families, friends, and coworkers.
And if you know someone who is going through domestic or sexual abuse, you can hold space for them by listening, offering consistent support and advocating for them. Most survivors say what was most transformative for them was someone validating their feelings and believing them. That’s something we all can do.
This interview is part of our series 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.
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Featured image: Hera Hussain
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