Press releases

Statement from EVAW and Rape Crisis about abuse and naming of rape victim in Ched Evans trial

"It is profoundly disturbing that the rape victim in the Ched Evans trial has been named and abused on Twitter and other social media sites. It has long been law that rape complainants are protected by lifetime anonymity and those who have named her have been reported to the police for committing a criminal offence. This raises serious questions about the adequacy of the criminal justice system to deal with offences that occur online and we are calling for an urgent review of laws and practices.

However, the case also highlights a bigger issue about the deeply-held but ill-informed beliefs that people still hold about women who experience sexual and other violence, for example that women routinely lie or contribute in some way to the violence. A recent survey by Mumsnet found that negative portrayals of women in the media contributes to them feeling they will not be believed and therefore do not report.

Many men and football fans have chosen to speak out against the abuse in this case and we want to see football clubs and the Football Association take a strong stance against sexism in the sport. We also want the Government to take concerted action to address attitudes that condone violence. This must include ongoing public campaigns to challenge rape myths, work with young people in schools as well as action to tackle sexism online and in our daily newspapers. We cannot afford to shrug our shoulders any longer and hope that this problem will go away."

April 2012

LONDON ELECTIONS CAMPAIGN - MORE THAN A QUARTER OF WOMEN FEEL UNSAFE ON LONDON PUBLIC TRANSPORT

WOMEN SAY THEY WANT ACTION ON TRANSPORT STAFFING, LIGHTING & POLICING

Shocking poll results revealed as Women's Coalition launches London election manifesto & call on candidates

A YouGov survey for the End Violence Against Women Coalition (1) published today (30 March) reveals that almost twice as many women in London as men say they do not feel safe using London public transport at all times of day and night (28% of women as to 15% of men).

The survey is published as the EVAW Coalition launches its London election manifesto and a call on candidates to pledge to ‘make London the world's safest city for women.'

Of women in the survey who chose to comment further ontheir feelings about safety when travelling in London, the highest number said they wanted to see action on transport staffing - including wanting more staff, better training for staff, and staff to be more visible (2) (some of these comments are included in the notes below).

After staffing, the next most commonly expressed desires were for more visible policing on the transport system, and better lighting on buses and trains, at stops and stations and beyond.

An alarming number of women said that they did not feel safe when travelling at night with some avoiding doing so because of safety fears. When asked for comments, some women reported that they had personal experience of, or a friend or family member had experience of, sexual harassment or sexual assault when travelling in London (3).

Some of the comments made were:

"Feel unsafe at night if I am alone and travelling home. I often move carriages on the tube to feel safer or change buses."

"Have had some issues when travelling on the top deck of a bus, especially at night, so don't feel safe up there. Safer to sit nearer the driver."

"I feel safer on public transport than I do walking around, but I have still experienced several nasty incidents of sexual harassment on the tube where I have been forced to change carriage or leave the train a stop early to avoid harassment from men."

The poll results are published as the EVAW Coalition launches its 10-point plan to make London safer for women and calls on all Mayoral candidates to pledge action on domestic and sexual violence, forced marriage, FGM (female genital mutilation), prostitution and sexual harassment (more below).

End Violence Against Women Coalition Co-Chair Marai Larasi said:

"These poll results are truly disturbing. They confirm what many women already know - that thousands of us are worried about our safety if we choose to travel alone. And that many women and girls in London actually do not feel able to travel after dark because of these fears.

"This is not acceptable in 21^st century London, and our political and community leaders have the power to do something about it. We call on all Mayoral candidates to address these survey findings during their campaigns and on whoever is elected to hold a summit on women's safety on London public transport."

The EVAW Coalition commissioned the YouGov survey in order to highlight the every day impact of women's safety fears on women's choices about using London public transport. These fears are strongly related to the threat and the reality of violence in the lives of thousands of women and girls in London - last year 45,000 incidents of domestic violence and 3,000 rapes were reported to the police in London, and 7,000 children were born to women who had undergone female genital mutilation (4).

The EVAW Coalition Manifesto has been developed by many of the Coalition's expert members and is being sent to all election candidates who are being asked to pledge to ‘make London the world's safest city for women'. A summary of the manifesto is also being distributed at election events by scores of women's rights activists all over London. The manifesto includes a call on those standing for election in May to pledge that if elected they will:

Police - Ensure the police in every part of London deliver the best possible response to all reports of violence against women
Rape - Ensure that all survivors of sexual violence have access to specialist Rape Crisis support - by committing to continuing to fund all four of London's Rape Crisis centres
FGM, forced marriage, honour-based violence - Take a leadership role in drawing up a plan to eradicate FGM, forced marriage and honour-based violence in London
Sexual harassment - Make London public transport a zero tolerance area for sexual harassment and assault
Domestic violence - Monitor the impact of local authority cuts on refuge accommodation and ensure all women and children fleeing violence have somewhere to go
Serious youth violence - Ensure programmes tackling gangs include girls' needs
Prostitution - Ensure the police response to prostitution does not criminalise women and support the development of programmes that prevent women entering prostitution and provide exiting routes for those who do
Events - Ensure major events in London, such as the Olympics, have good safety planning for women
Prevention - Make London a global leader on preventing violence against women
Renew and improve London's excellent ‘The Way Forward' strategy on ending violence against women and girls.

Professor Liz Kelly, Co-Chair of the EVAW Coalition said:

"We are constantly hearing that the big issues in this election are policing, transport and housing. For many women and girls our safety is an everyday political issue and is part of policing, transport, housing and more.

"London's mayor has already lead the development of an excellent strategy on ending violence against women and girls - which has been admired by other UK cities and around the world. We need to see a commitment to renewing and improving this strategy, and truly leading London to become the world's safest city for women."

ENDS

Rape Crisis England and Wales and the End Violence Against Women Coalition

Mumsnet rape survey: Women’s groups respond

PRESS RELEASE Strictly embargoed: 00:01 Monday 12th March 2012

Responding to Mumsnet’s ‘We Believe You’ campaign, Rape Crisis England and Wales, stated;

“Mumsnet’s survey reflects what we know from decades of working directly with women, that rape and sexual violence is widespread and getting support to rebuild their lives is critical. In fact the vast majority of survivors who contact Rape Crisis do not report to the police. Despite improvements in police procedure, victims of sexual violence often lack confidence in the courts and legal system.

Our National Sexual Violence Helpline is a lifeline for thousands of women and girls but can only answer around a quarter of calls because it is so under-resourced and has never received central government funding, unlike other helplines. We urgently want to expand this service to support thousands more women and girls and need to raise funds to do so.”

To make a donation please go to: https://localgiving.com/charity/rasasc

Holly Dustin, Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition said;

“We fully support Mumsnet’s ‘We Believe You’ and applaud Mumsnetters for shining a spotlight on this issue. When women say they feel that society, the legal system and media are unsympathetic to rape survivors we should sit up and take notice.

We want to see ongoing investment in public campaigns to tackle public attitudes – similar to drink-driving campaigns – as well as work with young people in schools on sexual consent, healthy relationships and gender stereotypes. It is vital that there is proper funding for the National Sexual Violence helpline to support women and girls who are abused.“

Contact Sarah Green on 07984 717817 or Holly Dustin on 07572 446 252

Katie O'Donovan katie@mumsnet.com 07823 323495

- Ends –

Notes to editors:

Since 1973, Rape Crisis Centres have been providing crucial support for women and girls who have experienced any form of sexual violence both recently and/or in the past including crisis and long term specialised counselling, support and independent advocacy.

National Sexual Violence Freephone Helpline Freephone Telephone Number 0808 802 9999. The Helpline Number does not show on telephone bills and is free to users of Vodaphone, 02, Orange and other mobiles. www.rapecrisis.org.uk media@rapecrisis.org.uk

The End Violence Against Women Coalition is the UK’s largest coalition of organisations working to eradicate violence against women and girls; members include Rape Crisis England and Wales, Refuge, Women’s Aid, The Women’s Institute, Amnesty International UK and the TUC. www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk

EVAW APPLAUDS UK DECISION TO SIGN UP TO EUROPEAN WOMEN TREATY

Responding to the announcement that the UK will sign up to the European Convention on Violence Against Women, EVAW Co-Chair Liz Kelly said:

"We are delighted that the UK Government has announced its intention to sign up to the European Convention on Violence Against Women.

"By signing up the UK is publicly declaring its opposition to and commitment to eradicating all forms of violence against women, including sexual violence, domestic violence, forced marriage and trafficking.

"Signing the Convention should improve the way we tackle FGM in the UK, and make our asylum system take better account of women's specific circumstances.

"We welcome the Government's recognition in signing the Convention that violence against women is a human rights violation.

"We remain concerned about the funding of life-saving services for women in the UK, services which are admired throughout Europe, and the lack of a programme of work in schools to prevent violence in the long-term. We hope today's announcement will lead to more consideration of these issues."

March 2012

Department for Education cannot rely on Facebook to tell schools about sexual violence campaign

Why aren’t we talking to schools directly about children’s safety? – Women’s organisations ask

Commenting on the Government’s teen sexual violence campaign launched Monday 5 March, Holly Dustin, Director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said:

“Young people are bombarded with messages that blur the lines of what sexual consent means, so we fully support this Home Office campaign and welcome the fact that the Home Office has worked closely with experts in the women’s sector in developing it.

“However, we are astonished that the Department for Education, which has responsibility for children’s safety and well-being , has said it will not promote the campaign schools directly, because it wants to reduce the ‘burdens’ on them, but will use Twitter and Facebook instead.

“We recognise that social media is an important communication tool but this is wholly inadequate for such an important issue. Parents and young people will expect schools to be informed directly about children’s safety issues – not least when almost one in three 16-18 year old girls in the UK say they have experienced unwanted sexual contact at school itself (Yougov).

“Unfortunately sexual violence and abuse is common in young people’s relationships and has an impact on physical and emotional health, on educational attainment and is a considerable drain on the public purse. It is critical, therefore, that we invest in long term campaigns like this to change attitudes and behaviours, similar to drink driving campaigns, and that we ensure funding for women’s services who provide support.

“We also believe that all schools should have a statutory obligation to deal with this issue through Sex and Relationships Education which should include sexual consent, healthy and respectful relationships, sexualisation and gender equality. All parts of government need to pull together on this critical issue. “

March 2012