The tech start-up targeting sexual assault survivors

Content warning: This episode discusses sexual assault, rape and trauma.

When our investigative reporter Sian Norris heard worrying claims about a Silicon Valley-style start-up targeting rape survivors at universities in Bristol, she knew she needed to uncover what exactly was going on.

Over the next six months, Sian interviewed more than a dozen people on and off the record, sent multiple FOI requests and reviewed countless social media posts. 

Working with a Lucy H Watson, a student at Bristol university, Sian uncovered the concerns raised by students, universities and the police about Enough's approach, that sexual violence experts have issues with its methodologies, and that one of the organisation’s co-founders has links to a former beauty queen who described sexual assault as a “multi-billion-dollar industry”.

Read Sian and Lucy’s investigation: 

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/enough-bristol-diy-rape-kits-bristol-university-start-up-katie-white-tom-allchurch/

Lucy has set up a Student-led Instagram account raising awareness about Enough and their self-swab kits:

https://www.instagram.com/enoughofenoughbristol/

—

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/newsletters/

In Solidarity is openDemocracy’s podcast about people, power, and politics. Support the show by visiting https://www.openDemocracy.net/donate/

Credits:

Presented by James Battershill

Edited and produced by James Battershill, Ayodeji Rotinwa & Carla Abreu

Theme song ‘Odyssey’ performed by Edward Abela

00:00 CONTENT WARNING

00:12 Introduction

02:17 What is Enough?

03:56 Investigating Enough

05:07 The US connection

06:55 Have rape self-swab kits ever been used in a criminal prosecution?

08:42 Experiences of Enough 'in the wild'

11:12 A lack of sensitivity

12:47 How unique is Enough's solution?

16:16 Visibility for victims

19:23 Is there evidence of Enough's 'assault prevention' claims?

20:52 Using the vulnerable as test users

22:38 Is there any harm in using the kits as a backup?

24:41 What data is collected and how is it protected?

27:46 How is the company organised?

28:38 Concerns over how Enough was pitching itself to Universities

29:48 How revolutionary is Enough really?

32:16 The shocking belligerence of Enough

33:20 What does solidarity mean to Lucy?

---

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.