This is my final formal message to the community as a member of The STOP Campaign.

I have made the decision to step down as Director and Safeguarding Manager of STOP after more than five amazing years leading the organisation. I have passed on The STOP Campaign formally to Audrey Mims and Sophie Aboud, with support from our current leadership team of passionate members.

I first made this decision a year ago in November 2022 and I have since worked alongside our inaugural Board Directors, Audrey Mims and Sophie Aboud, and the 2023 Committee to slowly transition out of STOP over an 18-month period. I formally stepped down from the Director and Safeguarding Manager role in July 2023, however have continued to uphold my responsibilities under existing contracts. This includes to co-lead the College Program and Safe Response Toolkit (SRT) projects, lead our recent advocacy initiative #IDeserveSafety while the Universities Accord process is underway, and support the team in our 2023 Annual and Financial reporting.

As I have just finalised my postgraduate studies at the end of 2023, it also feels fitting to move away from the movement and onto other opportunities. I founded STOP as an awareness raising initiative when I was a student living at Fenner Hall in 2018. It has been a privilege to work alongside students, victim-survivors, fellow activists and community stakeholders since then. We have had more than 200 people volunteer with STOP, shared more than 40 victim-survivor stories through our #WeWillSpeak and #WeWillListen campaigns, and developed three core programs: the Empowerment Program, the College Program and the SRT. We also amplified the experiences of 52 people through our #IDeserveSafety survey, which has contributed to significant national reforms led by the Federal Government on this issue.

Leading STOP has been one of the most exhilarating, challenging and all-around rewarding experiences in my life to date. Advocating for change against some of the most powerful institutions in Australia is a difficult task, and I am so grateful for every person who has dedicated their time to help us make change collectively. Working with everyone on STOP has been the highlight of my experience and is what has made everything worth it.

I am immensely proud of each and every person who has dedicated their time to building a community like we have – one of so much care, solidarity and passion. As a survivor and activist, I know it will be difficult leaving the amazing STOP community that is so supportive and thoughtful. These communities are so hard to find – even in the advocacy realm where we would usually expect it to be the opposite. This is what makes STOP so unique and something I will always be proud of. At the same time, this is a necessary step to ensuring this community of care can continue to grow and evolve as its membership does.

As a survivor myself, I am also so proud of the community we have built at STOP - one with no judgement and an understanding that we are all learning. It has been a very healing experience and made a really positive impact on my life. It has helped me feel less alone and demonstrated the power of collective activism in not only seeing real change in our community, but also ourselves.

Developing and leading STOP as the Director and Safeguarding Manager has been a privilege and I am very excited to cheer on the new leadership and see what they achieve next.

I am stoked to be passing on the organisation to some inspiring people, especially knowing that they will continue to make a difference in the lives of others, particularly victims and survivors.

In solidarity, always,

Camille Schloeffel