Violence against women and girls is rarely far from the headlines, but that doesn’t mean it’s inevitable; it’s not. And as we approach the 2024 general election, we can’t let ourselves – or any of the political parties – become desensitised to it.
A coalition of over 70 leading organisations working to end violence against women and girls (VAWG) – including EVAW, Refuge, and Women’s Aid – have signed a joint manifesto calling on all political parties to tackle VAWG at the next general election.
The manifesto notes that women’s and girls’ right to live free from violence should be a “key election issue”, yet all too often, the subject is “co-opted or weaponised” by political parties to justify regressive policies and/or stoke anti-migrant sentiment. Either that or it’s barely mentioned at all.
Since the last general election in 2019, the public’s perception of violence against women and girls in the UK has shifted. When then-serving police officer Wayne Couzens murdered Sarah Everard, many people woke up to the threat of male violence from within the police – compounded by its overhanded response to mourners at the vigil for Sarah, the arrest of serial rapist David Carrick, and the subsequent Casey review, which found damning evidence of rape culture within the institution.
Just last week, Elianne Andam, a 15-year-old girl, was stabbed on her way to school. A 17-year-old boy has been charged with her murder. The week before, a joint investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches spoke to four women who accused the comedian Russell Brand of rape and sexual assault. Brand strongly denies the allegations. He is being investigated by the Met Police and Thames Valley Police after further reports of “harassment and stalking”. Earlier in the year, the headteacher at Epsom College, Emma Pattinson, and her seven-year-old daughter, Lettie, died from shotgun wounds believed to be inflicted by her husband, George Pattinson.
For all the stories of male violence against women that reach the headlines, there are thousands more that don’t. Violence against women has seeped into the fabric of all our lives, whether it affects us or our loved ones. The political parties must do more than “take it seriously” – they’ve supposedly been doing that for years. We need substantial, meaningful change.
The VAWG sector is calling for all the political parties to incorporate the following ten key areas into their general election manifestos:
1. Rights and inequalities
Violence against women is a human rights issue – and should be treated as such.
Recommendations:
- Protect human rights legislation
- Protect the right to protest
- Identify inequalities in the outcomes of Black and minoritised, migrant, D/deaf and disabled and LGBT+ survivors
- Ensure migrant women have equal access to support to escape abuse
- Introduce Valerie’s Law (more info here)
- Bring forward a comprehensive ban on so-called “conversion therapy”
- Update the definition of domestic abuse to reflect abuse by non-family carers
2. Prevention
We must tackle the source of violence against women and girls by challenging misogyny across society, including schools and online.