EmpowHer Event

We attended the EmpowHer event organised by the Lewisham VRT on 28 August which was made to empower and inspire young women from the global majority aged 16-21. We were invited to run a creative workshop where we asked young women 'If services were working well for young women and girls in Lewisham, what would you notice?'. 

I really enjoyed the event as I was able to learn about other organisations that help young women and girls but also speak face to face with young women and girls about their experiences with services and hear what they would like to see changed. I was pleased to see myself and others really get involved in the workshop and be able to help some of the young women who needed support and keep them engaged and also spread the word about Abianda and the Young Women’s Advisory Group! It was really nice to see the young women express themselves creatively and also to receive a lot of positive feedback from the young women that came to the workshop and hear about how much they enjoyed it as this made me feel that it was useful & impactful. From this event I've learnt that I am able to work well in a team and problem solve and also use my lived experience to better relate to other young women. I believe that there should be more events like this as it is important that young women’s voices are heard and considered when making changes that affect them.

This event was really impactful for me as we got to speak directly with young women about how they feel about services in their borough and got to give them the opportunity to use their voices to create positive change for themselves and other young women in their community. I was pleased to see myself engage the young women with their collage making by making the space comfortable for them and also to see myself engaging with the organisations that attended the event, who all had a clear and passion for supporting young women and girls. I loved seeing how our team worked together to deliver the workshop, speak at the panel and make new connections with everyone who attended this event- I was so proud of us as well as all of the young women! I really learnt and felt the importance of having young women be in charge of how services are designed and respond to them on this day, and how we all need to make an effort to ensure that this happens across the board as young women have the best, most interesting and efficient ideas! 

I really hope more events like this are done to shine the spotlight on young women’s experiences and to give them a chance to speak to organisations directly whilst connecting with each other, having fun and being creative. Young women deserve to feel safe and have spaces designed for them, to be uplifted and heard and understood. We are glad that we could provide some time for this to happen for even one day and we look forward to attending more events that can help improve the lives of young women affected by exploitation in the future! 

Blog by: Abianda's Young Women's Advisory Group