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Hey guys, I am Tom! And I’ll be honest I’ve not really been active in SASHA before, however, you may recognise me as a former LeadLUU candidate.

Following an incident of being sexually assaulted when I was campaigning to be Activities and Opportunities Officer, I publically highlighted my experiences of assault and expressed that more needs to be done to raise awareness for male victims. Over the last few months, I have reflected on this incident and decided it is best that we start a conversation and try to end the taboo, which let's face it is a big taboo – Men are victims and it is not talked about. My nomination to this role has 3 clear aims that are primarily focused on addressing the issues that in particular Male victims face:

1. We will raise awareness for Male and Non-binary victims of sexual harassment and assault and the mental health impact of these events.
2. We will support more people to feel empowered to discuss their experiences of sexual harassment and assault.
3. We will help more people access relevant access support.

My ideas to address this may still be developing, but I am very motivated to ensure that Male and non-binary victims have the opportunity to recognise and discuss their experiences in a safe environment.

Not only this I believe I have the skills and experience to support the rest of SASHA committee in its activism efforts. Alongside my campaigning experience, I also have events management experience (from being Trip Secretary in the Hiking Club) which I think will be valuable in expanding the breadth of SASHA’s activism and fundraising events.

I look forward to being more involved and hopefully being able to help people!!

Tom :)

P.S: Feel free to get in contact with me if you’ve got any questions. gy22ta@leeds.ac.uk / ig: @tomjappleton.