Stop Victim Blaming: The Story Behind the Visuals

Five artists from Northern Ireland have designed thoughtful, challenging, and impactful images to accompany Victim Support NI’S new #Stopvictimblaming project, launching on European Victims of Crime Day, February 22nd.

Each illustrator was tasked with creating an image which would represent the victim blaming that comes with five different crimes.

Jacky Sheridan, who created the image for domestic violence, said it was important to her not to trigger victims or survivors, but to ‘illustrate the myth accurately’.

This was also in the mind of the creator of the image for sexual violence, Fiona Mcdonnell, who said she was proud to work on the project which aims to change ‘this societal attitude towards victims’.

Victim blaming attitudes towards robbery were brought to life by David Mcmillan who agreed, saying ‘As illustrators, I think it is important to be politically and socially engaged, and to use our work to highlight and depict these topics.’

Artist Thomas Bannon spoke about the difficulties of dealing with such sensitive subject matters. His postcard focuses on individuals with a criminal past who then become victims: “It was challenging - it pushes you outside of your comfort zone which is really essential for growth as an illustrator.”

Finally, artist Jamie Beard, who had the task of depicting victim blaming in assault cases, found it to be a ‘strong learning experience’, saying the project gave him ‘a chance to better my personal understanding’ of the topic.

You can see all of the artists’ work and learn more about Victim Blaming on the Victim Support NI website: www.victimsupportni. com/about-us/stop-victimblaming/

TODAY the waiting game is finally over... or so they say.

I’m not convinced. How often have I written “end of lockdown” in my diary?

Every one of those dates has come and gone, without the exit strategy we’re all desperate to see. And that’s not too strong a word.

This has been a wearying year, a testing time for everyone and a tragic ordeal for hundreds of thousands.

Life will never be quite the same again. But I’m still here, buggering on in hope edged with realism. I don’t expect much from the Government’s much-trumpeted road map out of nightmare.

There have been too many false starts, U-turns and blind alleys to have faith in Boris Johnson as the prophet leading us from the wilderness. He promises to

“follow the data” from scientists, while contradictorily keeping a date with his libertarian Covid Recovery Group of MPS who want to end all the restrictions on social behaviour.

So I expect today will be a fudge. Welldressed and high-sounding, but a fudge all the same.

The Prime Minister can do little else, because he doesn’t know – nobody knows – what the future offers.

We shall have to grin and bear it, with the grit that got my parents’ generation through history’s most terrible war. There is a Captain Tom Moore in all of us.

We just have to connect with it and stay the course.

Now, what does the Mirror’s Love TV mag say is on Talking Pictures? One sure way of coping with the present is escaping to the past.

I have watched so many vintage films that you would think I have got a black and white telly.

And I might as well put up a sign on the house saying “Sam Kydd lives here”.