Preventing intimate partner violence improves mental health

As the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Ressa, underscored at UNGA80, “as has been proven time and time https://www.fau.edu/sw-cj/news/reimagining-gangs-and-gang-members/ again, online violence is real world violence.” TFGBV surfaced as a growing concern across CSW69, UNGA80 resolutions, G20 EWWG, and 16 Days of Activism. We are in a battle not only over policy but over the frame, purpose, and importance of gender equality work. Movement-led and hybrid spaces such as ALL IN, 16 Days of Activism, and Financing Feminist Futures were able to be more adaptive than formal intergovernmental processes.

Violence against women and girls facing crises

In addition, the Ministry of Defence is exploring practical arrangements to keep victims and survivors safe at work and on the Defence estate, as well as other compassionate support including leave arrangements, access to counselling, and adjusted performance expectations. Many of these technologies tackle harms that disproportionately affect women and girls, for example, child sexual exploitation, grooming, harassment, cyberbullying and eating disorder content. As the restrictions have eased, demand for face-to-face support has risen again as more victims feel able to access support services in person.

What causes gender-based violence in crisis settings?

Data from the CSEW shows that 4% of adults aged experienced stalking in the last year – equivalent to 1.3 million victims – 892,000 women and 443,000 men. A nationally representative survey commissioned by the Government Equalities Office found that in the last 12 months 20% of women had experienced unwanted sexual comments. In 2020, the police recorded 151,059 sexual offences, of which 55,632 were rape offences. Police recorded crime includes a broader range of sexual offencesfootnote 42 than measured in the CSEW and includes offences against both adults and children. 1.8% of adults aged 16 to 74 (equivalent to 773,000 people) had been a victim of sexual assault in the last year; 2.9% of women and 0.7% of men. Sexual assaults measured by the CSEW combine rape (including attempts), assault by penetration (including attempts), indecent exposure and unwanted sexual touching experienced by people aged over 16.

The Government is clear that victims should have access to support regardless of where they live. The Call for Evidence has demonstrated that victims and survivors are concerned about the availability of support. I only got support after I moved from a rural area to London, I think there needs to be investment in strengthening and publicising online/ remote services to give people in smaller, more remote communities privacy and support. It is also essential that they have the confidence to report their abuse and feel assured that our criminal justice system will support them to do so. Respondents also raised ongoing effects such as lack of trust and fear of walking alone which victims and survivors are experiencing as a direct result of the abuse they have been subjected to. Forced marriage, female genital mutilation and other types of ‘honour’-based abuse are hidden crimes, and to tackle them we need to change attitudes and behaviour.

• Cash transfers allow women to prioritize their needs, and those of their families, in a manner that they see fit.
• The Government is clear that victims should have access to support regardless of where they live.
• Data from the CSEW shows that 4% of adults aged experienced stalking in the last year – equivalent to 1.3 million victims – 892,000 women and 443,000 men.
• All 79 reviews included reductions in violence as an outcome, and about half (33 out of 79) also included changes in norms that support VAWG as an outcome.

The Home Office has also funded a number of initiatives in light of heightened concerns about online harms during the pandemic, including through South West Grid for Learning and Internet Matters, to develop a new online hub, specifically designed to decrease online abuse and raise awareness of its risks. A safety by design approach, which embeds safety as a core consideration in the design and development of an online platform, has an important role to play in creating safer online spaces for women and girls. Under the Government’s proposals, to prevent children from accessing content which poses the highest risk of harm to them, we expect companies to use measures that provide them with the highest confidence in the age of a user, for example, age verification. This includes protecting them from harmful content and activity on their service and reviewing children’s use of higher risk features such as live streaming or private messaging. Companies will also be expected to take steps to ensure that children are not able to access services which pose the highest risk of harm such as online pornography and dating websites. The revised guidance is due to come into force in September 2021 and will help ensure that all school and college staff are clear on how to deal with reports of sexual violence and sexual harassment, whether they occur inside or outside the school or college gates, or online.