Susie Dalton, a volunteer filmmaker with Speaking Out, describes her experience of interviewing women involved with the Women’s Aid movement and the things she’s learned during her journey with the project.
For forty years Scottish Women’s Aid has been making space for women to speak out and be heard. The Speaking Out project celebrates and records the history of Scottish Women’s Aid and the impact it has had on so many lives.
It was an immense privilege to be a volunteer filmmaker on the Speaking Out project and work with women who have connections to Scottish Women’s Aid and its history.
Before the project I’d never really filmed anything properly. I was worried it would take a while to feel confident with the camera but a couple of afternoons of training at Glasgow Women’s Library with Helena Öhman (the woman behind a number of amazing short films including GWL’s Women on the Shelf) did the trick, and then we were off! Cameras in hand. And tripods on shoulders. And headphones, microphone, and spare battery packs in bag. Who knew being a filmmaker had this much kit?
The stories the women I was interviewing shared were sometimes upsetting, often shocking and truly inspiring. Keeping silent behind the camera was often the hardest part of this role! We saw frustration and even tears as the women recalled their experiences and the challenges they faced, but mostly there was good humour and fond reminiscing of what more than one woman described as ‘the best time of her life’.
The interviews I filmed were all completely different in terms of the interviewee’s background and role with Women’s Aid, but one theme in particular emerged between them – that Women’s Aid have achieved an incredible amount in 40 years, but there is still a lot of work to be done to define, challenge and prevent all aspects of abusive relationships.
This echoes one of the most eye-opening and valuable parts of being a volunteer on this project – the ‘Understanding the Dynamics of Domestic Abuse’ training we underwent at the beginning. We learned how archaic the term ‘domestic violence’ is, and discussed how terms such as ‘intimate terrorism’ and ‘coercive control’ perhaps do a better job of explaining the extent and the types of control and power abuses that can exist in relationships.
I think the most important thing I learned about the value of Scottish Women’s Aid was this: the organisation doesn’t exist to tell women what to do. It doesn’t judge, or demand, or prescribe. It works to create space around women in abusive relationships, and to equip them with the tools they need to make decisions for themselves and their families in their own time.
Being part of the Speaking Out project has been a wonderful opportunity to understand more about the importance of Women’s Aid and be absolutely inspired by the powerful work of the women behind it. I’m excited (and a little bit nervous!) to see the finished film in November.
The interviews will be edited into a compilation for the project’s exhibition that will be touring around Scotland from the end of this year.
