Yesterday I had a meeting with Jude Kelly, Southbank Centre's artistic director, along with other activists who have been involved one way or another with this petition (including some who were involved in the conversations that led up to my decision to publish it). We were given the following positive update: ‘South of Forgiveness’ is no longer taking place on Saturday, 11th March. The organisers have decided to move it to a later date (Tuesday 14th March), where it will not be part of the WoW Festival. The event will be free and Jude has informed us that Tom Stranger will not be receiving an appearance fee. Weekend and Saturday Day Pass holders (for WoW) will be invited to the event, should they wish to attend it. The Centre’s website will be updated to reflect these changes. See the Centre’s official statement below. The decision was made in response to voices on this petition, as well as those who opposed it; comments sent by signatories, as well as conversations with Thordis (who reiterated that sharing a platform with Tom is an integral part of her sharing her narrative). Over the past few days, my conversations with Jude included a reiteration of the contents of this petition, and also, in response to voices opposing the petition, a reflection on how Tom Stranger, as a rapist, may be involved (at all) in conversations on rape and under what conditions. A common opinion in comments received on this petition and sent to the Centre highlighted how WoW is not an appropriate space for this for a number of reasons including issues around maintaining a safe space, that women do not need to be told about rape by a rapist, that a male audience would be more appropriate, and that this would be triggering for many survivors at the Festival. This view framed a large part of this debate and influenced the decision-making, leading to the event being moved outside of WoW, while not erasing Thordis’ narrative and dictating how she relayed it and listening to survivors who wanted to hear this narrative (and who felt they would benefit from it). This petition, therefore, started an important conversation, which has attracted a wide variety of views, and it has highlighted how complex the conversation is. The original slot for the event at WoW will now be used to bring this conversation and debate into public domain, and I encourage anyone intending to be at WoW this Saturday to join. The details of this debate will be posted on the Centre’s website. On a separate note, I am still receiving queries about what ‘closing’ the petition meant. Please refer to this update: https://www.change.org/p/rapist-should-not-be-given-platform-at-southbank-centre-s-2017-wow-festival/u/19616456 Thank you to everyone who contributed to making this conversation possible. Statement from Southbank Centre: Southbank Centre's Artistic Director, Jude Kelly, said: "Our WOW– Women of the World festival was created to be an open, balanced platform for discussion and debate on gender equality and the related critical issues that women and men struggle with every day. Rape is one of these critical issues and we need to shift the discourse around it, which too often focuses on rape survivors rather than rape perpetrators. Following their Ted talk ( and their book South of Forgiveness ) we programmed survivor Thordis Elva to share her journey of coming to terms with the devastating impact of her rape and her decision to invite her perpetrator Tom Stranger on to the stage, to take full responsibility for his actions. “Having considered the importance of this debate for the widest possible public, and after having further conversations with survivors, support organisations and audiences, we have decided to stage this event on the Tuesday 14 March rather than on the Saturday 11 March as originally scheduled, to enable as many people as possible to contribute outside a festival context.