By Kieran McCartan, PhD, & David Prescott, LICSW
.International Women’s Day on Tuesday the 8th of March 2022 focused on “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”. The field of sexual abuse is often, and rightly, seen as a women’s issue as it tends to impact women more than men. However, this is a bit of a red herring as it’s really a community issue, usually committed by men against women and often underplayed, ignored, or even validated by some communities and groups. This is not to dismiss it as a women’s issue, but rather to expand the discussion and recognize it’s a social issue that we all need to respond to and work towards preventing, regardless of our gender. We all need to part of the conversation, because preventing violence against women and girls needs the engagement of men and boys.
The End
Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) is
a coalition of more than 120 specialist women’s support services, researchers,
activists, victims and survivors, and NGOs working to end violence against
women and girls in all its forms. As part of International Women’s Day, EVAW
produced a snapshot
report documenting the extent of violence against women and girls in England
and Wales. The report is a useful tool in highlighting the extent and
nature of abuse currently, existing best practices, and the changes needed to
respond to it. While the report covers a
range of violence against women and girls
(femicide, sexual abuse, domestic violence, online sexual abuse,
abuse in public spaces, and others), our focus here is on sexual abuse and
rape. The report indicates that in
England and Wales:
-
In the 12-month period ending in September 2021
sexual offences recorded by the police were the highest on record, at 170,973
offences, a 12% increase from the same period in 2020. Rape accounted for 37% of these offences
(63,136 offences).
-
2.9% of reported sexual offences and 1.3% of
recorded rapes resulted in a charge or summons, which has fallen from the
previous 12 months.
-
41% of rape victims and survivors withdrew their
support for action through the criminal justice process and declined to pursue
criminal charges.
-
The London Victims’ Commissioner’s 2021
London Rape Review also found that among those who allege rape or
sexual assault to police, 65% withdrew support for the case, an increase of 7%
in the last two years, with nearly two-thirds of London rape victims and
survivors who drop their complaint doing so within a month of going to police, and
the proportion of withdrawals tripling in two years.
-
Latest Office for National Statistics data show
the disproportionality of sexual assault against minoritized and marginalised
women with Black and mixed-race adults more likely to experience sexual assault
than white or Asian adults.
-
Cases with white victims and survivors are 1.2
times more likely than Black victims and survivors to result in a charge, and
1.8 times more likely than when victims are Asian (6.7% vs. 3.7%).
-
10 police forces did not bring a single charge
over the rape of a Black victim during the five-year period, despite recording
148 reports between them.
-
Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)
investigation into police officers who abuse their position for a sexual
purpose has shown a sharp rise in reported cases in the past three years, with
this form of abuse now comprising the single largest form of police corruption
they encounter.
-
After the launch of the Everyone’s Invited, 16,000+
testimonials of sexual abuse in schools were shared from girls as young as 11
years old. The testimonials named 10% of all the schools in England. Following
these revelations, Ofsted launched a review that found 9 out of 10 girls had
experienced sexist name calling and 92% of girls had been sent unsolicited explicit
pictures or videos.
-
Girlguiding’s
2021 Girls’ Attitudes Survey found that 19% of girls aged 11-16 and 33% aged
17-21 said they had been sent unwanted sexual images online in the last year, and
9% of girls aged 13-16 said they felt pressure to share images of themselves
that they’re not comfortable with.
The report highlights that there is still a lot of work needed
to respond and prevent violence against women and girls. At first reading, the
report is disheartening and frustrating, but it paints a realistic picture of
nature of abuse in England and Wales. The report demonstrates that we must do
more, and offers a number of recommendations, some of which are familiar (i.e.,
a multi-year, well-resourced public attitudes campaign to end violence against
women and girls; a strategic investment to end abuse; far-ranging reform to the
criminal justice system’s approach to this abuse; a victims’ bill that responds
to the diversity of victims and survivors’ experiences with greater rights and
entitlements), some of which are ongoing (i.e., ratification of the
Istanbul Convention; An online
safety bill that comprehensively tackles online abuse), and some
of which are innovative (i.e., effective protection and support for migrant
women; support for schools to implement a whole school approach). Because
it enshrines a community based approach, we would like to highlight a human rights
approach to violence against women and girls, as a key, essential argument in
the prevention (and the cornerstone of the Istanbul Convention), as the right
to live without fear of sexual abuse and violence is a vital human right for
all women and girls in England Wales, as well as globally.
The prevention of violence against women and girls is
everyone’s responsibility. While the London
Victims’ Commissioner’s report focused on England and Wales, the reality is
that these are issues everywhere. While different countries may have different abuse
rates, as well as different attitudes, behaviours, and reporting mechanism, it
is safe to say that we all need to improve our responses and prevention activities.
Sexual abuse exists everywhere globally, and it’s time for the global community
to step up with appropriate responses to this women’s health and human rights
issue.
No comments:
Post a Comment