Women's Views on News |
| Email your MP for Tuesday’s pay gap vote Posted: 12 Dec 2014 06:15 AM PST
Next week, Grazia and Unite are taking Grazia's Mind The Pay Gap campaign – set up to stamp out the gender pay gap – to the Houses of Parliament. And they need you to help them. On 16 December, MPs will take a vote that could change the law and signal the beginning of the end of the gender pay gap. They will be debating whether to implement Section 78 of the Equal Pay act, which would require companies with more than 250 employees to publish anonymous details about the pay of both men and women. This transparency will be a first step towards closing the – growing – gender pay gap. Grazia and Unite have been campaigning for this since June: now you need to get your MP to vote 'Yes'. We are calling all our readers to support this campaign and email their MP, and also to share this article with friends and ask them to do the same. Because it isn't right that in 2014 we are still only earning 81p for every male pound! Emailing your MP couldn't be easier to do. 1. Click on this link and enter your postcode to find your MP's name and email address. 2. Then copy and paste the letter below – or something along these lines – into a new email, fill in the blanks and send it to your MP with the subject line 'Will you vote in support of Section 78 of the Equality Act?' Dear: [INSERT MP'S NAME] On 16 December there is to be a debate in Parliament calling for the implementation of Section 78 of the Equality Act – requiring businesses with 250 employees or more to publish anonymised details annually about the hourly pay of men and women they employ. This transparency would be a major step towards ending the gender pay divide. Since you are my MP, I am writing to ask you to support it. I am not alone. Nearly 10,000 Grazia readers have already signed a petition asking for Section 78 to be implemented, so people can take a good look at salary inequality and take steps to tackle it. Please can you let me know which way you will be voting when it is debated in Parliament? Thank you. Yours sincerely, [INSERT YOUR FULL NAME] [INSERT YOUR ADDRESS] 3. Click ‘Send’.
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| Police close domestic abuse gap Posted: 12 Dec 2014 02:51 AM PST
Domestic violence protection orders (DVPOs) are now in force across England and Wales following the successful conclusion of a 1-year pilot in the West Mercia, Wiltshire and Greater Manchester police force areas. DVPOs are a new power available to police officers, who can apply for this protective legislation if they believe a perpetrator will continue to be violent towards a victim. When officers are called to a domestic incident and there is evidence a perpetrator has been violent towards the victim and any other associated person such as family members or friends, officers can seek to issue a Domestic Violence Protection Notice (DVPN). This gives the victim, and anyone else believed to be at risk of violence from the perpetrator, immediate protection. The Notice is valid for 48 hours, at which point the perpetrator will attend court and police can apply for a DVPO. Under a DVPO, the perpetrator can be prevented from having any contact with the victim or returning to their residence for up to 28 days, giving the victim protection from violence and allowing them some time to consider their options with the help of support agencies. If either a Notice or an Order is breached, the perpetrator will be arrested and detained to appear before court for prosecution. This can be done with or without the consent of the victim, thus removing the need for what can be a very difficult decision for the victim – whether to make a complaint against someone they may love and have children with. Before this scheme was set up, there was a gap in protection, as police couldn't charge the perpetrator for lack of evidence and so provide protection to a victim through bail conditions, and because the process of granting civil injunctions (such as a non-molestation order) took time to obtain. In the two months since Cheshire Police started using the Scheme, 21 DVPOs have successfully been taken out, 4 of which were contested and 2 not granted at court. Norfolk Police have issued 19 Domestic Violence Protection Notices (DVPNs) since they were introduced in June and all 19 notices issued by Norfolk Police to date were converted to DVPOs by the courts. The first custodial sentence of its kind in Staffordshire for a breach of a Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO) was handed out to 33 year-old man from the Burton-on-Trent area at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on 20 November. Following two previous breaches of DVPOs, where the offender received fines, upon the third breach on 20 November, the offender was taken to court. Following the presentation of evidence by officers at court he was sentenced to 21 days imprisonment. Since being introduced in South Yorkshire at the beginning of June, officers in the region have applied for 49 DVPOs and have had 38 granted. Sergeant Suzanne Bluck, Domestic Abuse Sergeant for Sheffield, said: "We would always prefer to secure a restraining order, to give victims long-term protection from their abusers, but in some cases this simply isn't possible and the DVPOs provide us with a short-term, supportive solution that gives the victims precious time and space to consider their future. "The good thing about DVPOs is that they don't require the victim's consent, which can be very difficult to obtain when they are terrified of the repercussions of pursuing prosecution. "We take the decision off them and we make that choice, in a bid to protect them from any further harm. "As the festive season approaches, the number of domestic abuse incidents tends to rise and we want victims to know that there is this support available to them." If you wish to report domestic abuse or have any concerns, please call 101. For additional support, call the National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247, Women’s Aid on 0808 2000 247 or Victim Support on 0845 3030900. In an emergency, or if you feel threatened, call 999.  |
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