‘Leave Me Alone’

The Leave Me Alone campaign led, collaboratively by groups TogetherWI headed by core member Anya Ayoung-Chee, CariMAN led by Dr Peter Weller and SaySomething led by Atillah Springer and Angelique Nixon have come together to, “bring attention to gender-based violence within the Carnival Space.” The group added that there would be further collaborations with Calypso Rose on the campaign and would be revealed in the coming week. The campaign was launched, online, on February 14.

But the concept for the campaign was crafted from February 1.

Ayoung-Chee in a phone interview with Newsday said, “We were independently inspired by Calypso Rose’s song, Leave Me Alone, and we acknowledged that we wanted to collaborate.

Calypso Rose’s song was the main inspiration but the main issue is to address gender-based violence particularly as it appears in Carnival and to have the conversation raise awareness, [and] create citizen activation towards ending gender-based violence in general.

She said TogetherWI, the organisation she represents, is a collective of creatives –videographers, photographers, artists, designers and musicians– who believe in the power of art to impact on social issues. She said the group’s intent, as artists, is to dedicate its time, skills and resources, “to the creation of different types of visuals that can be used in the activity of ending gender-based violence.” TogetherWI is in for the longhaul, intending to use its art to lend a voice to varying social issues. Leave Me Alone is its first campaign. The group currently consists of 12 core members among them artist Muhammad Muwakil, photographer Maria Nunes and the Above Group. TogetherWI became a group in November last year. It has branded T-shirts, tank tops, bandanas and body shirts with the tagline Leave Me Alone for sale. The sales will go back to the campaign.

Although the group has not partnered as yet with major corporate clients, Ayoung-Chee said it is open to conversations about partnerships.

Personally for Ayoung-Chee, Rose’s song is about letting men know that women would simply like to be left alone to enjoy themselves. “For me, the reason the song resonated this way is there is the desire to enjoy my space, personally, without being attacked, without being violated, without being harassed –is a perfectly normal desire. And we have a right to that and at the same time not inciting violence against anyone who comes at us with that behaviour.” “I think the conversation around ending gender-based violence should not incite more violence,” she said.

On her FaceBook page, Ayoung-Chee said, “We invite you to use the hashtags #leavemealone #leaveshealone to share stories of your experiences of street harassment and violence during Carnival and also of positive moments when you felt defended or protected by your Carnival community.

“And we ask you to share your thoughts about how we create change and also to encourage men to hold their friends, brothers, family, and colleagues more accountable. LeaveMeAlone & LeaveSheAlone are rallying cries against those who harass or want to control women, and they are also serious calls to all of us, especially men, to step up and help us create safe spaces and a safer Carnival for women.”