Today (25 November) is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, marking the start of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence: an international campaign calling for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls [VAWG].
Gender-based violence is currently at a crisis point, affecting an estimated more than 1 in 3 women worldwide. The most recent global estimates suggest that a woman or girl is killed by someone in her own family every 11 minutes. While the Covid-19 pandemic has clearly exacerbated the problem, a UN campaign notes that “there is […] more evidence than ever before that VAWG is preventable.”
SARSAS, a specialist service for people affected by sexual violence across Bristol, BANES, Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, has partnered with author and activist Laura Bates to launch the #16DaysChallenge. This campaign is encouraging people to think of one change that would make a difference in the fight against VAWG rather than relying on victim-blaming advice that holds women responsible for their own safety.
GLAMOUR spoke to Laura Bates to learn more about the campaign, how people can get involved, and why it's up to the policy-makers to take notice.
GLAMOUR: Hi Laura! Thanks so much for finding the time to speak with us today. What is the #16DaysChallenge, and how can people get involved?
Laura Bates: The idea is to shift our societal focus on ideas around solving sexual violence, which too often focuses on victims and telling them what to do or not to do. Every woman I think will relate to don't wear a short skirt in case you're asking for it, don't wear heels in case you need to run, cover your drink in a club, go to the bathroom in groups, text each other when you get home safely, walk home with your keys between your fingers, and a million other things that we expect women to do on a day-to-day basis.
And it's not just societal; it's coming from official spaces as well. It's things like the Police Crime Commissioner saying that Sarah Everard shouldn't have submitted to Wayne Couzens and that women need to be more “streetwise.” It's a male leader of a city council after Bobbi-Anne McLeod's murder saying that we shouldn't be putting ourselves in compromising positions.
"It's about putting the focus where it belongs, onto actionable solutions that don't involve blaming victims."
And it's maddening because it means that we're never focusing on the real source of the problem, which is male violence, and the real nature of the problem, which is structural. These aren't isolated incidents. Very sadly, we know that women and girls all over the world experience sexual violence at different times of day in different dress, including covered from head to toe, in different places at different ages. And there is no single thing they have in common that women can magically avoid, because the only thing they have in common is coming into contact with a perpetrator who's made a choice to commit an act of abuse.
So, we need to focus partly on men and male perpetrators and male violence and recognising that for what it is, but also on structural solutions in education, in politics, and the failings in the police, if we're going to move forward. And the 16 Days Challenge is all about that. It's about putting the focus where it belongs, onto actionable solutions that don't involve blaming victims.
Is the campaign effectively putting it to the people to come up with ideas about how to come up with these solutions?
Yes, it's kind of crowdsourcing ideas. It's really about starting a conversation and about changing that rigid public narrative that still focuses on culpability in victims.
I think for me, what highlighted it the most was both when Sarah Everard died, and the thing that trended more than anything was “SheWasJustWalkingHome.” Then when Ashley Mercy was murdered, the thing that trended was “SheWasJustGoingForARun.” It was maddening to me – although I totally understand that no one shared those with malice – I found it devastating that the greatest expression of our grief seemed to be that [these women's deaths] were tragic because they weren't asking for it. And we have to change that insidious narrative because until we do, we won't be able to fix the problem because we're not looking in the right place.
I guess part of the problem is that violence against women and girls feels like such an insurmountable problem; it's almost as if we've become desensitised to it.
I think people are partly desensitised by the normalisation of the problem. I think that the low-level sexism in our society makes violence against women seem inevitable because we use it as a punchline. I think the scale of the problem tends to make people feel a level of hopelessness. But I think the reality is that there are very clear solutions that we could implement right now that would make a difference. They wouldn't necessarily fix the problem overnight, and I totally accept that that is a huge challenge, but there are specific things we really could do overnight.
“Just in Somerset and Avon alone, there are over a thousand rape survivors waiting for support because we're not funding it properly, and that just breaks my heart.”
For example, not every police force has a specialised rape and domestic abuse unit. There's no reason [for this]. There's no reason we shouldn't be giving all offices better training. There's no reason that we couldn't pump a huge amount more funding into frontline services – honestly, the work they do is just life-saving. I've seen it firsthand. I've met with survivors who've benefited from their services. They are the most incredible group of people working so hard to support survivors, and yet there are over a thousand people on the waiting list for their services. Just in Somerset and Avon alone, there are over a thousand rape survivors waiting for support because we're not funding it properly, and that just breaks my heart.
The Men's European Football Championships are here.
Absolutely. Is there anything else you'd like to add?
I guess the only other thing to say is that I really hope that policymakers and gatekeepers in positions of power sit up and take notice. And that's the point of making a lot of noise around this, which is not to say that individuals are responsible for coming up with the solutions.
It's more about saying that if there's a big enough groundswell of voices speaking up about this outrage, then we should be able to force policymakers to take systemic action, which is what we need to see.
You can participate in the #16DaysChallenge by making a short video saying one thing you would like to see changed, sharing it on social media with the hashtags #16DaysChallenge and #16Days, tagging SARSAS, and tagging one other person you would like to join the challenge. To find out more, head to https://www.sarsas.org.uk/join-us-in-the-16dayschallenge
For more information about emotional abuse and domestic violence, you can call The Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge on 0808 2000 247.
For more information about reporting and recovering from rape and sexual abuse, you can contact Rape Crisis.
If you have been sexually assaulted, you can find your nearest Sexual Assault Referral Centre here. You can also find support at your local GP, voluntary organisations such as Rape Crisis, Women's Aid, and Victim Support, and you can report it to the police (if you choose) here.
We're told to be more careful. That we are responsible for avoiding our own rape or murder.
