More than 100 women and girls’ groups, including the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, Refuge and Rape Crisis, have signed a joint statement warning that using Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) to push anti-migrant campaigns leaves the country’s female contingent in more danger, not less. The warning comes after the Home Office issued a booklet advising asylum seekers not to rape or sexually assault UK women and girls, a move described as “simply incredible” when it came from Downing Street.
Groups point to facts on domestic abuse
The groups also pointed out that the booklet creates a false sense of security among British perpetrators, noting that statistics prove they are responsible for the vast majority of domestic abuse and rape offences in the UK. Rape Crisis numbers show two in five adult survivors of rape suffered it in their own home, and half of rapes against women are carried out by a partner or ex-partner.
As for the booklet warning migrants against sexist name-calling or catcalling, Rape Crisis figures reveal nine in 10 girls and young women in schools experience sexism, unsolicited pictures of male genitalia or other images of a sexual nature. The hard-hitting statement calls for urgent action from Prime Minister Andy Burnham to end the narrative that some mainstream politicians are using to further a far-right agenda.
Statement condemns racist distraction
The statement quotes: “Not only do these falsehoods fail to keep women safe, they serve as a racist distraction that actively impedes the urgent work of addressing gender-based violence. Myths and misconceptions about sexual violence act as a barrier to justice. Spreading an inaccurate picture of VAWG in the UK allows the people – overwhelmingly men, from all walks of life – who harm women and girls to hide behind racial stereotypes and scapegoating.”
Stereotyping migrants also flies in the face of the claim from Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson that racism and sexism have been normalised in this country. When Sir Keir Starmer made his “Island of Strangers” remarks, widely condemned for its impact on people of colour as well as migrants last year, he was forced to row back, yet Bridget’s public condemnation was conspicuous by its absence.
Minister’s record questioned
She was also a staunch defender of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s asylum reforms, which included the removal of support from families with refused claims, and a consultation on children being physically handled and forcibly removed from the UK in handcuffs to “overcome noncompliance”. Nor has Bridget pushed back in the public domain on the planned early release of roughly 5,000 prisoners in early October, including domestic abusers, plans that have left many women living in fear.
The column notes that examples of horrors experienced by women, people of colour – or both – confirm the country has been “knee-deep in a worst-case scenario for years,” citing women waiting so long for sexual assault cases to go to court that they give up, and people of colour dragged from their cars during UK race riots. It also mentions those who warned repeatedly, years ago, of the consequences of TV outlets broadcasting live the kind of racist rhetoric last heard in the 70s, concluding: “The horse has bolted, Bridget. We’d all be better served working together on ways to catch it.”
