Staying safe while advocating

This is perhaps the most important thing to remember and applies to both online and in-person advocacy work.

• If you feel unsafe or uncomfortable at any moment, remove yourself from the situation1.
• If you’re in immediate danger, call the police on 000.
• You can also tell a trusted adult, colleague, or friend about your experience.

You don’t ever need to sit through situations in which you feel uncomfortable or unsafe. Simply walk away, log off or make up an excuse to give yourself an out¹.

As a young advocate, you can often feel that people expect you to talk about or share your lived experience. Often young people can also become the ‘spokesperson’ for certain issues, carrying the emotional load of educating others on topics around their lived experience¹.

• You only ever need to share as much information as you feel comfortable with others knowing.
• People may pressure you to share explicit details about your lived experience, but it’s okay to keep details to yourself.
• You could find that repeatedly sharing your lived experience makes you feel drained, uncomfortable or even unsafe.
• You’re in control of your own experience, and what you want to share is up to you.

• If you’re advocating online, you may be subject to online harassment or When someone posts or comments online to deliberately upset others.trolling.
• This behaviour is unacceptable.
• Don’t be afraid to utilise the ‘block’ or  'silence' function refers to features that allow users to hide or silence posts, updates, or notifications from specific accounts or keywords without unfollowing or blocking them. The name of these functions vary between different social media platforms.'silence' functions available on all social media platforms if you’re being targeted².
• These functions exist for a reason and using them can help you stay safe and feel comfortable online.
• You can block not only accounts, but also certain words, hashtags, and topics².
• Do what’s best for you to feel comfortable online.

In your advocacy work, you may find your name and face are heavily attached to your work. If this gets too overwhelming, don’t be afraid to hide behind a screen, others, or the name of your advocacy group or organisation¹.

Think about keeping your professional and personal life separate by not sharing your advocacy work with your personal networks. Do what makes you feel the safest!

It’s likely that in your advocacy experiences you’ve formed a network of peers passionate about the same things as you and experienced in the ways of advocacy¹,².

Or your advocacy might be part of a larger organisation or non-for-profit. Don’t be afraid to lean on these networks when things get tough². There may be other experienced campaigners around you who can give you advice on how best to stay safe. This advice applies for in-person advocacy work as well, such as a protest or sit-in.

So, if you’re feeling uncomfortable or unsure, don’t be afraid to turn to those who have more experience with this work.

If you don’t have peer networks, you can reach out to advocacy organisations like YACVic who can support and connect you to like-minded people. You can also reach out to campaigners already in the space you’re interested in and ask if they have space to mentor you.

Sometimes what online trolls and harassers enjoy most is seeing people get upset and respond to their comments. Often, it’s best not to engage so these online users don’t get a response, and get bored with the whole thing.

So, while you may be tempted to engage – it’s safer to let things be in order to protect yourself and your mental health¹.