To that end, the festival sought to create a safe space for those involved in the conversation on consent to explore these – often very difficult – topics. The whole event was crowdfunded and run entirely by volunteers, according to the vision of festival director Tania Mendes. At the festival, legal experts and counsellors sat alongside writers, survivors, artists and activists on panels and in workshops on justice, literature, marginalisation and more.

Creating this genuinely safe space was something the organisers felt passionately about. “As a survivor, I felt it was necessary to create a space where people could come together and have an open, honest conversation about sexual assault, abuse and consent,” Li says.

“So many people have experiences and stories which have impacted their lives so much, but often there’s a sense that no one wants to hear these stories, because of the stigma around these issues,” she continues. “That’s not true – I think many people would want to share these stories (as you can see with #MeToo), if a space was created for that purpose.

“There are so many talented artists creating very powerful work around these issues, and an audience that wants to see that work. So why not make a platform for that kind of sharing to happen?”

The festival was also clear about the ways our intersecting identities can impact upon our experiences of assault – and our access (or lack of) to the services we may need. Panels on disability, race and queer identities all explored these barriers.

“As a person of colour, I’m very conscious that most rape survivors you see in media stories tend to be young, white and middle class,” Li explains. “In reality, people across all sectors of society are affected by sexual violence, and where they are in society – their class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, if they’re disabled or able-bodied, etc. – all these factors can affect how they’re believed (or not), what kind of help they can get, and how they can recover.

“This is incredibly important to realise – that there are inequalities even within the fundamental inequality of being assaulted”.

“What we need to consider when we talk about consent”