Hi there, my name is Kai, and I am an 18-year-old student from Exeter who, on the 13th of September, will be walking 280 miles across Exmoor and Dartmoor to raise money for Devon Rape Crisis. Covering all 137 OS-listed Dartmoor Tors and 17 of the highest peaks on Exmoor, I will have walked a total combined elevation 1 and a half times the height of Mount Everest over roughly two weeks. 

My motivation for doing this is twofold. Firstly, I have experienced firsthand the effects of sexual assault after helping several friends through the start of their lifelong recovery from the event. It is undeniable the repercussions that events like these can have on those affected, from severe depression to suicidal thoughts. The amount of trauma it can cause someone to have cannot be quantified in words, and it is something I would not wish anyone on this earth to go through, especially without the necessary amount of funding in place to support those who experience sexual assault.

Yet, in the UK today, one in five women and one in twenty men experience some form of assault after their sixteenth birthday. And that is without mentioning the one in 12 minors traumatised by sexual assault. This statistic struck home to me as someone who recently left education, with the recent survey published by “Everyone’s Invited,” collating 50,000 anonymous student testimonials about sexual assault, finding that all but two schools in Exeter (excluding specialist schools) have sexual assault allegations made against members of their student body. This study also includes allegations made against Universities, with Exeter University receiving the most amount of allegations of sexual assault cases compared with any other Uni in England.

While there are many issues facing young people that should be resolved, such as the young mental health crisis, aid for rape and sexual assault crisis groups are often overlooked, which is one of the reasons I have chosen Devon Rape Crisis to fundraise for. 

Devon Rape Crisis provides an accessible call line for victims of sexual assault and in-person intervention groups for survivors in desperate need of support. This is an essential service filling in where the police or a school’s efforts to aid individuals fall down. When only around 15% of cases of assault are ever reported to the authorities in England, groups like Devon Rape Crisis are often the first port of call for most victims, making them an essential part of any community.

The funding raised through my walk will make a difference in people’s lives and those supporting them on their road to recovery. It takes £1,500 worth of funding to provide 10 weeks of group therapy for 10 victims of sexual assault, allowing them to have the crucial care that is needed. By doing this walk alone and accompanied by friends and family along the way, this fundraiser will lessen the number of people in our community that are left to heal alone after experiencing sexual abuse. One day I hope to no longer see my close friends being survivors and victims of sexual abuse, but in the world at present, I aim to push for change wherever it can begin, starting with this walk.

There is also the opportunity for businesses, large or small, to get involved, I plan to promote any businesses through the @Tors4Change Facebook page as well as printing the logos of any businesses that decided to sponsor me onto a banner that will be used for promoting the event. If this interests you please contact me: Tors4Change@gmail.com