About The Right Words
The Right Words is the world's largest campaign dedicated exclusively to changing how abuse is reported.
The way we report sexual assault, domestic abuse, and other forms of abuse matters. Words influence how these crimes are understood, who is held responsible, whether survivors are believed, and how confident others feel about coming forward.
Too often, headlines remove the perpetrator. Serious crimes are described in ways that are vague, softened, or unclear, changing how readers understand what happened.
The Right Words exists to change that. We work with journalists, media organisations, public authorities, charities, and the wider public to encourage reporting that is accurate, accountable, and reflects the reality of what happened.
Why We're Doing This
Language shapes perception. It influences public understanding, policy decisions, and cultural attitudes towards abuse.
When perpetrators are removed from sentences, accountability is diluted. When survivors are positioned as passive subjects, the narrative shifts away from the act itself. Clear, accurate language does not change the facts - it reveals them.
This work is about ensuring that reporting reflects reality, not obscures it.
Our Founder
The Right Words was founded by Andreea Groenendijk-Deveau, a former senior journalist who led editorial teams across two countries.
With extensive experience in newsroom environments, she recognised that the way abuse is reported is not an unavoidable limitation of journalism - it is a series of editorial choices.
The initiative was created to challenge those choices and provide a clear, practical framework for doing better.
Since its launch, The Right Words has grown rapidly, reaching millions of people and building a community of tens of thousands actively engaging with how abuse is reported and discussed.
Andreea Groenendijk-Deveau
Founder
We Are Part of a Wider Mission
The Right Words builds on our work through Outcry Witness, a platform created to support survivors who are not ready - or not able - to report abuse through formal channels.
Outcry Witness allows individuals to securely and anonymously record their experiences, creating a time-stamped record that can be used if and when they choose to take further action.
Together, these initiatives address two critical barriers:
- How abuse is communicated and understood publicly.
- Whether survivors feel able to come forward at all.
Both are essential to improving access to accountability and justice.
Our Impact
In less than a year, The Right Words has grown into one of the world's largest initiatives dedicated exclusively to improving how abuse is reported.
People have joined the movement.
People reached across platforms.
Headlines challenged and rewritten.
We are also working with media organisations, public authorities, charities, and other institutions to improve reporting and communication.
Alongside this, we have developed an Editorial Language Guide for journalists and launched a Parliamentary petition calling for improved access to civil justice for survivors.
Every conversation, every headline, and every organisation that chooses more accurate language helps move responsibility back where it belongs.
Speaking & Events
The Right Words contributes to conversations about journalism, abuse reporting, survivor communication, and access to justice.
Throughout 2026, our Founder, Andreea Groenendijk-Deveau, has spoken at conferences, public events, and professional forums about improving the language used to report abuse and violence.
Hosted by The Jessica Project and Project Salama in Reading, discussing practical ways to tackle violence against women and girls.
Inspiring the Future: Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls and Domestic Abuse Through the Employer Lens, held at Guildhall, London.
Speaker at the launch of Hertfordshire's first Violence Against Women and Girls strategy.
Training & Speaking
We work with media organisations, universities, public authorities, charities, businesses, and professional associations to improve how abuse is reported and communicated.
Sessions can be tailored to journalists, communications teams, leadership groups, safeguarding professionals, and public bodies.
Why language influences public understanding of abuse, accountability, and justice - and how small editorial decisions have significant consequences.
Why perpetrators disappear from headlines, public statements, and institutional communications - and how organisations can change that.
Practical guidance for journalists, communications teams, police forces, charities, and public bodies seeking greater clarity, accountability, and public trust.
Reflections on journalism, power, responsibility, and what happens when accuracy alone is no longer enough.
How organisations can communicate difficult subjects in ways that inform the public without causing unnecessary harm.
Work With Us
The Right Words works with journalists, editors, newsrooms, public authorities, charities, universities, businesses, and other organisations that want to improve how abuse is reported and communicated.
Whether you're looking for training, a keynote speaker, editorial guidance, communications support, or access to our Editorial Language Guide, we'd love to hear from you.