Diva

10-05-2020

Diva Gibson died after struggling with her mental health during the isolation of lockdown.

She was convinced in to believing she was too much, when really she was everything to those who truly loved her.

Throughout her life she experienced abuse. From the time she was in the womb and her mother was living in fear while fleeing domestic abuse. She also went on to experience many versions of racial abuse and experienced domestic abuse first hand in the years before she died. Diva identified times when her mental health was seriously worrying and she spoke about it in relation to the behaviours she experienced. 

Diva had received a late assessment, discovering she was autistic after an mis diagnosis of BPD.

Only a short time after receiving her diagnosis, she approached the Left Field stage at Glastonbury asking them to hold a panel talk about intersectionality of being autistic, female and black.  This was welcomed and Diva was asked to lead the panel.  Diva was excited about this opportunity to create positive change. Unfortunately due to lockdown it meant that Glastonbury was cancelled in 2020 along with her hope of creating change.  

When Glastonbury was next held in 2022,  the Left Field stage held a debate  in Divas memory ‘Neurodiversity - The fight for human rights’ with Carly Jones MBE, Chris Packham, Siena Castellon, Mahlia Amatina and John Harris 

Diva was beautiful inside and out, but was vulnerable to domestic abuse due to both being female, autistic and  experiencing intergenerational trauma

The police failed to investigate, and even though they sealed off Diva’s room as a crime scene, her mother was the one to find the very substance they were concerned about in her daughter’s drawer. It was never investigated as a crime would be.

Concerns that her mother and others raised were ignored.

To the police Diva was just someone who made a decision to die

The evidence left behind said different 

With domestic abuse being known to be a high risk factor, Sinead is asking for more safeguarding  for those vulnerable, when services are deciding whether someone is a caring supportive person, or is a concern due to coercive or controlling behaviour. When services were deciding where Diva would be safe, there should have been a robust risk assessment

Diva’s mother Sinead, along with friends have created a festival with Diva’s vision, Every Little Thing festival, held in Reading annually close to Suicide Prevention Day. A celebration of diversity and bringing together of organisations who support people with their mental health and wellness. We talk about the things that can help improve our mental health, as well as the things that can challenge us.

By keeping Diva’s memory alive, we hope to improve the lives of many others and prevent others losing their lives to suicide.