The Peter Mitchell Churchill Fellowship to explore ways activists and universities can work together to prevent sexual violence on campus

Camille's project explores the ways that activists and universities work together to prevent sexual violence on campus. In 2022, Camille travelled to the USA, Canada, England and Scotland in the UK, and attended an international conference in Mexico, over an 11-week period. In her research, Camille focused on exploring the role of activists and the prevention methods they develop to prevent sexual violence in comparison to those developed by institutions.

She also investigated how relationships between activists and institutions can be effectively built and mobilised to create change in the sexual violence space by observing and learning from:

• Relevant university taskforces, committees and units
• Student activists and victim-survivors who effectively campaigned for change in their university communities
• Community organisations with direct experience in sexual violence prevention and response
• Academics and experts who teach courses on the issue of sexual violence prevention and response and/or engage in their own activism
• Existing campaigns, events and program sessions.

Camille conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews, observed and participated in workshops and events, shadowed leaders and attended conferences. Specifically, her research sought to find:

• New mechanisms of preventing sexual violence on campus through collaboration between university institutions, community organisations and activists
• Models where these collaborative relationships have been productive and influenced positive change on campus.

Importantly, Camille's goal is to ensure that this project benefits the Australian community by:

• Providing best practice examples of positive collaboration between activists and institutions
• Leveraging grassroots advocacy and activism, including my own experience, to inspire institutions to listen to students and enact substantial policy reform in their efforts to prevent sexual violence
• Preventing sexual violence from occurring and keeping everyone safe on university campuses.

To learn more about Camille's research, see her website: www.camilleschloeffel.com