Our first and foremost goal with CARE is to offer survivors of sexual violence support, a space to feel safe, and a stable community. We recognized the stigma and loneliness that often accompanies survivors/victims of sexual violence and we felt that it is important that we create a space where people can feel safe, meet people that have been through similar experiences, reduce their isolation and by doing so improve community building.

As expats that have experienced Dutch academia, we understand the difficulties that exist within the university context, especially for international students. Loneliness, anxiety, stress, missing home and loved ones are only some of the difficulties that students can experience. When a history of trauma or an incident of sexual assault/harassment is added to the equation, someone’s well-being and level of functioning can be impaired. One of our goals in bringing Care in the context of the Dutch Universities is to create a safe space for the members of the university to share their stories and concerns on a consistent weekly basis and build a long-lasting community safeguarded by confidentiality and trust that will support and accompany them through their academic journey.

As an extension, our widespread goals are to de-pathologize conversations around sexual violence and survivors and break the stigma and shame that exists around it. On an individual level, we want to increase the autonomy of survivors and reduce the impact of sexual violence on survivors.