Everyone’s Invited
1844. Soma Sara
Soma Sara, from London, created ‘Everyone’s Invited’, an online community of over 99,600 people who have experienced sexual abuse and are working to expose and eradicate rape culture by anonymously and safely sharing their stories.
Whilst finishing her English degree at university, Soma began sharing personal stories on Instagram to help reveal how widespread the issue of rape culture is for young people at school and university. After receiving responses from strangers relating their own experiences of assault and harassment, she decided to develop an online platform to create a safe space for people to share their stories with empathy, compassion and understanding, and connect with others with similar experiences. So far, over 54,000 testimonies have been shared on the platform, sparking a conversation about rape culture and surrounding issues. Soma’s platform has triggered a groundbreaking Ofsted review in schools in England in April 2021 that reviewed safeguarding policies and practices relating to sexual abuse, with similar reviews now launched in the devolved administrations.
In a personal letter to Soma, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:
“I was inspired to learn of your initiative ‘Everyone’s Invited’, where tens of thousands of people have come together to share their stories in a safe and unique space.
“Your online community is confronting rape culture, a culture which is so abhorrent. I was pleased to hear that your important work has triggered an Ofsted review in England and the devolved nations. It is important we continue to learn from the thousands of testimonies and remove this culture from our society.”
Felicity Buchan, Soma’s local MP for Kensington, said:
“It is fantastic that my constituent, Ms Soma Sara, has been recognised as a daily award winner for Point of Life and I congratulate her on her vitally important work at her online platform ‘Everyone’s Invited’.”
Soma said:
“It is very surreal to be honoured and recognised as a Point of Light! I would like to dedicate this award to every volunteer at ‘Everyone’s Invited’ and to every survivor who has bravely shared their story with us.”