The T. O. R. C. H. Collective is a Dublin-based nonprofit, founded this year, whose stated goal is to “engage the DIY music & art community in workshops and projects that promote healthy relationships, consent, sexual health, & accountability.” TORCH, in this case, stands for Taking On Rape culture, Consent and sexual Health. Their entire ethos is based around confronting and challenging the belief structures and social underpinnings that enable misogyny and homophobia, and therefore hopefully put a stop to the violence that comes from those attitudes.
As noted in their zine:
“We convened following the verdict of a rape trial in Belfast in March 2018 that exposed the rampant lack of consent education and prominence of rape culture in Ireland. After three brazenly sexist Ulster rugby players were acquitted of their charges, many of us in the community came together on the grounds of feeling re-traumatized and somewhat helpless at the lack of justice that had been served, as well as the disdain being shown for the victim.”
Last Saturday, TORCH hosted their first event — one part introduction to the Collective, one part zine launch and multiple parts sex-positive workshops. Jaja Studios hosted the proceedings and there was a fantastic turnout of about fifty people over the course of the event. Kelly, one of the organisers (and a former Trinity Neuroscience Masters/PhD student) was pleased to note that, “attendees included a wide age range, people of all gender identities and sexual orientations, survivors of sexual assault, sex workers, dogs, babies(/parents), and people who are involved in a variety of art/music scenes including the activist, queer, punk, hardcore, noise, and electronic scenes! Therefore a broad range of perspectives were represented during our conversations.”
Incorporating multiplicity of voices into the work they’re doing is something that the Collective have taken very seriously. Again, from the zine:
“We aim to incorporate the opinions and needs of underrepresented members of the community and welcome any constructive criticisms. While we cannot alter past history, singlehandedly destroy global capitalism, or personally irradiate the Catholic Church, we can analyse our own behaviours and take responsibility for our actions, while endeavouring to improve our community.”
The launch advertised a sex toy DIY workshop and it didn’t disappoint the kinkier folk. Collective members Indigo and Ryan showed the group how to make a flogger out of pipes and upcycled bike inner tube, and then massage candles out of body-safe soy-based wax! Other workshops included the politically-timely screening of some Catholic 1980s sex ed videos and comparing that information to the results of the April 2018 survey conducted by the Irish Second-Level Students Union (ISSU) on Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) for current students. The survey shows how far we’ve not really come since the Eighties and how inadequate current education on sexual health, sexual/gender identity, queer issues and consent still is. We might not still be stuck in the Eighties, but Ireland has a long way to go. The current push for the Dail to expand sex ed is a vital issue for activists to consider. Rounding out the workshops, TORCH member Denise led an interactive consent workshop focused on communication and boundaries, all of which are so important for the work TORCH is doing.
Entry to the launch event included participation in all the workshops, and of course a copy of the first TORCH zine. There’s a report of the results of anonymous online survey about experiences and opinions on sexual health and consent in the Dublin DIY community that the Collective hosted, and first-hand accounts of processing toxic masculinity, surviving assault, as well as incredible art and resources that we’ll all find useful going ahead. I’m a huge zine nerd and the TORCH zine satisfies a lot of my particular preferences — it’s informative, well-designed and offers a forum for people to share lived experiences with the like-minded.
Here at TN2, we were super-delighted to receive an e-copy of the zine to look over, and it’s incredibly worth your time and five euros to get your own copy — they ship anywhere in Ireland. The work they’re doing is so worth supporting and the zine itself is honestly badass. I know I’ll be supporting them with an order and keeping my eyes open for future events and meetings.
You can find more information about the TORCH Collective and their work at www.facebook.com/torchcollectivedublin and http://torchcollective.wordpress.com.
