ENGUtsattmann has a priority to get into school and colleges with information and lectures. The goal is to reach teachers at all stages of education, and especially pupils and students.
The psychology students in Bergen
In 2015, Utsattmann’s chairman Svein Schøgren and deputy Johnny Thorsen, got the pleasure to visit the Universitetet I Bergen. The student association are arranging “subject evenings”, and at one of these we were the lecturers. The evening started with a long queue of students. We were told that is was usually less than 100 students at these events, but this evening they were twice as many before the door got closed. The students came from various fields of studies. The students sat as lighted candles when we shared with them our stories and experiences of childhood sexual abuse and about the damage it caused us. A lot of them were staying behind later and wanted to have personal conversations, we felt strongly about this as we share our most secret feelings. It’s then when we feel our message have gone through, and it’s worth the cost. This was a visit both Utsattmann and the leaders for the event thought this should become an annual event.
Høgskolen i Buskerud
Last year at Høgskolen i Buskerud an educational campaign was launched which was about sexual abuse towards children. The target audience were students and people in different professions, social workers, police, teachers, etc. Leader for the subject Runi Børresen, invited Utsattmann to participate with a lecture at one of the days in the semester. We salute her for understanding that men also can be subjected to sexual abuse and that predators also can be women. Svein Schøgren from Utsattmann told about his time growing up with sexual abuse and shares his experiences with the late effects and meeting with the help sectors. Students, in all ages and from a variety of professions, asked many good and important questions. The lecturers were more than welcomed back, which he gladly agreed to. Thanks to Runi Børresen who took the initiative to start this course and to the college that gives it room.
Høgskolen i Agder
Autumn 2015, Utsattmann CEO Jarle Holseter held a lecture at Høgskolen i Agder, with Raymond Lønberg from a support center against sexual abuse. Utsattmann, Jarle Holseter and Svein Schøgren previously had evening events for social worker students at Høgskolen i Agder. This was successfull and we would like these events to become an annual occurence.
Utsattmann would like to visit all kinds of school with information and lectures, but one of the problems is the cost. Most schools have limited resources and don’t prioritize this topic. But we encourage teachers, students and school administrators to contact us. Together we can find a solution to work this out. When Utsattmann visited the social worker students at Høgskolen i Agder, was made possible by joint efforts between the school and the trade unions. So let the creativity grow.
By Svein Schøgren