A strategy to help stop violence against women is being introduced by Wokingham Council. Councillor Sarah Kerr said she wanted to develop a plan to keep women safe after she experienced verbal abuse.
Tackling violence against women and girls
Combatting violence against women and girls (VAWG) will come into sharper focus after a new strategy was agreed by Wokingham Borough Council’s executive group. As well as defining VAWG and its impact, the strategy will also set out local priorities to address these concerns, behaviours and crimes and will underpin a detailed action plan which is being developed in conjunction with partner organisations and informed by victims and survivors and from the real life experiences of women and girls that are fearful for their own safety.
Violence against women and girls takes place in communities across the UK and can be committed by anyone, from close friends and family to strangers, and anywhere, including homes, workplaces and in public places.
Although men and boys are also victims of violence and abuse, women and girls are often disproportionately affected because of their gender, particularly in cases such as sexual harassment and bullying, stalking, revenge porn, up skirting and domestic abuse.
The new strategy will sit within the Wokingham Community Safety Partnership, a group of organisations representing the council, health, police and fire and rescue that sets priorities and agrees the borough’s response to crime and anti-social behaviour. The partnership particularly focus on reducing incidences of domestic abuse and serious violence, tackling exploitation, and burglary and theft and providing support to victims of these crimes.
The VAWG strategy will cover a range of actions including changing societal attitudes and behaviours of misogyny and sexism, holding perpetrators to account, ensuring victims get the support they need and raising awareness and empowerment in local communities.
Hidden and underreported abuse against women
Cllr Sarah Kerr said the strategy would ensure the council’s attitude to sexist violence put the responsibility on the perpetrator – not the victim. Explaining how abuse is hidden and underreported, she said ” A lot of time women and girls fear going to the authorities because they are not always believed.”
Cllr Kerr also stated that she wants to encourage a culture where men challenge sexist behaviour. “I was talking to a male friend the other day who didn’t think it did, didn’t understand that in Wokingham women and girls suffer violence” she asserted.
“What I’m talking about here is, things like upskirting, stalking, bullying, it can be sexual assault, it can be rape and in some cases it’s murder. The reasons why this happens is because of the deep-rooted misogyny that we have in society that still exists that objectifies women and girls.”
Now that the strategy is approved, Cllr Kerr says the next step is for Wokingham Borough Council to develop a “more detailed action plan”. The council is also seeking accreditation from the White Ribbon charity, which tackles violence against women and girls. This involves adopting a three-year action plan drawn up with the charity.
Final thought
In the UK, one in four women experiences domestic abuse in their lifetime. In England and Wales two women a week are killed by a current or former partner, one in four women have been raped, and two-thirds of girls report sexual harassment from other students at school. Although reported crime levels in Wokingham are relatively low, violence against women and girls does happen. The strategy sets out priorities and an approach, but it is through working with individuals, communities and partner organisations that positive change can be made so women and girls are free to live the lives they would choose for themselves.
