If you are in a situation where you think your device is being monitored or controlled by someone else, you can find some safety tips here https://www.sexualviolence.ie/safety-message.

Click here to exit this page and be redirected to the UCC homepage. 

Safe and Sound is a year-long campaign that works with the UCC community and external collaborators to create media and organise events that foster awareness of issues around sexual violence and harassment. Safe and Sound aims to make sure everyone in the UCC community is included, from students to staff. 

To find out about upcoming events, follow us at @ucc_safeandsound or email esvh@ucc.ie - collaboration ideas are always welcome!

Campaigns

Healing Week 

In early February we played host to UCC's Safe and Sound first Healing Week. This week promoted messaging around healing from sexual violence, as well as highlighting supports. Additionally, in collaboration with the UCC Japanese society, Safe and Sound hosted a kitsungi event. This practice is the Japanese art of healing by embracing imperfection, by symbolically mending broken plates with gold glue. The event was a drop in plate mending session, and about 30 attendees came along, and their plates will be photographed and shared online shortly.

To wrap up Healing Week, we also collaborated with Green Campus, the UCC Sustainability Officer, and Dr Dara Fitzpatrick from the School of Chemistry to host a nature walk on campus, with 18 species of birds spotted.

Posters

Safe and Sound produces posters with safe, supportive, and positive messages about healthy relationships, sexual violence, and sexual health. These are collaborative efforts as we value the power of everyone getting involved in building a culture of respect in UCC. The posters below are the result of collaborations with FemSoc, Food and Nutrition Soc, Law Soc, Bystander Intervention, Clubs and Socs Ball Organisers, UCC Clubs Executive, UCC Socs Executive, and UCC Student Union. Keep your eye out for more posters appearing near you, and if you have an idea for a poster, please get in touch at esvh@ucc.ie. 

You can also email esvh@ucc.ie if you would like posters and leaflets for your building-they're free and we will drop them out to you. They are a great way to increase visibility for the UCC community outside the classroom. 

UCC Christmas

UCC Christmas is a popular event every year, and Safe and Sound developed a poster in collaboration with the food and nutrition society for display for UCC Christmas on campus and in the local pubs that students visit.

Valentines Day

As well as a poster, visitors to our Valentines  stall enjoyed free goodie bags with socks, condoms, lube, and sweets, and accessed leaflets on sexual health and sexual violence. Visitors also left cute Valentines messages on our Valentines Board.   

Stalls

Since September 2024, Safe and Sound have hosted information stalls at events such as Freshers Fest, Clubs Day, Socs Day, UCC Open Day, International Student Orientations, and more. These stalls display dozens of leaflets from internal and external resources of sexual wellbeing and sexual violence, along with freebies such as condoms, badges, sweets, and more. They are a fun way to interact with staff and students- come say hi if you spot us! 

Monthly Drop-in Space

From February 2025, Safe and Sound is partnering with the Sexual Violence and Harassment Prevention and Response Manager, UCC FemSoc, UCC Brod Soc, Staff LGBT Network, UCC Student Union, and the Sexual Health Centre to host monthly rapid HIV testing stalls in the maker space. This process is a confidential and discreet service which gives results for HIV and Syphilis in just one minute after a finger prick to take a blood sample. The service is open to all members of the UCC Community, and visitors can also take away free SH:24 home STI testing kits. This stall will have rotating guest spots from service providers such as Cork Sexual Health Centre, S.A.T.U (Sexual Assault Treatment Centre), and more. Pop along to say hi, win spot prizes, get your tests, browse our information stall, and stock up on free condoms and lube. 

Safe and Sound Soapbox

The UCC Safe and Sound project held a Staff Soapbox event on January 23rd 2025 in the Dora Allman. The Soapbox event was an opportunity to highlight the work of the project to staff and for speakers to talk about the work they are doing that is already contributing to making our campus more safe and sound. Prof. Nuala Finnegan, the PI for the project, opened the event and explained the origins of the project and the work that had been done in the first six months. Chloe Boland, the research assistant for the project, then showed some examples of video content that have been made for the project’s social media. The room was also decorated with different examples of posters that have been created so far, covering topics such as Image Based Sexual Assault and Spiking.

The speakers at the event were Dr Ciara Staunton, Gary Mulcahy, Dr Sharon Lambert, and Dr Caroline West. Dr Ciara Staunton spoke about stalking and its impact on victims. Gary Mulcahy spoke about his work in Campus Watch and the culture change he has seen in UCC since 2017 and how we need to keep pushing this change to happen. Dr Sharon Lambert spoke about her work on trauma, how difficult it can be for survivors to come forward and making change so that the world is better for the next generation. Dr Caroline West, UCC’s Sexual Violence and Harassment Prevention and Response Manager, spoke about the work she has done in her role since starting last January and the excitement of what can be done with such a new role. Caroline also facilitated some interactive activities with attendees about how the project can better facilitate staff engagement and what supports staff would need to help support students in UCC.

Sound Squad

We love to collaborate! We are delighted to be joined by student volunteers who make up our SoundSquad and help us to create content and help at events. We would love to explore a version of this with staff- get in touch if you'd like to work with us. 

Upcoming Events

-