Women's Views on News |
- Universities and safe spaces for women
- Bisexual women face double discrimination
- Revenge porn now a specific offence
| Universities and safe spaces for women Posted: 13 Feb 2015 03:48 AM PST
A leading national coalition of women's organisations has written to Business Secretary Vince Cable, to Universities UK and to the Russell Group enclosing new legal advice which shows British universities are acting unlawfully if they fail to respond to reports of sexual assaults and to protect women students from other harassment and abuse. Individual students have also written to their Vice Chancellors at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Nottingham Trent and Warwick universities enclosing the briefing and asking them to meet students and discuss their policy and practice regarding sexual assault and other abuse of women students. The End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW) is asking Vince Cable to put pressure on universities, which his Department funds, to improve their policy and practice in response to sexual assaults and to ensure that all UK universities are creating a safe and equal space for women students to live, work and learn. The Coalition is also asking Universities UK and the Russell Group, as well as the Association of Colleges, to influence their higher and further education members to meet with women's groups and students, and to review their policies and procedures in this area as a matter of urgency. The legal briefing, and a guide to the law and what individual students can do should they wish to bring a case against a university or college that fails them, are available on the EVAW Coalition's website and are being shared widely on social media. Law student Molly Ackhurst, for example, wrote to Professor Paul Webley, the Vice Chancellor of SOAS: "SOAS has a reputation for being one of the most liberal, freethinking and inclusive institutions in the country… Yet there are numerous examples of blatant sexism and poor… handling of students… The school must start upholding a zero tolerance policy for sexual abuse." The EVAW Coalition's briefing, authored by leading public lawyer Louise Whitfield, shows how Human Rights and Equality law can render existing university and college policies and procedures with regard to abuse of women unlawful, such as universities/colleges failing to investigate a report of rape and regarding it as a purely external police matter. The law says that universities and colleges must be able to demonstrate that they took women's equality and safety into account when developing policy on disciplinary procedures, accommodation, governance for student societies, campus security and more. It also argues that the misuse of university resources – including the use of university computers or email addresses to abuse and harass women students, or allowing the promotion of sexist or discriminatory events such as a 'Freshers Violation' night – may be unlawful. Sarah Green, acting director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: "The scale of sexual assault in UK universities is alarming and should give any prospective applicant and their parents and carers pause for thought. "We currently have a situation where women in the workplace are accorded more protection than young women who live as well as study at university. "We know that some women students have dropped out of university following abuse that was not adequately dealt with by the institution. This cannot be allowed to continue. "If the response to individual reports of sexual assault is poor, or if an institution is does not act in response to other forms of abuse including harassment, stalking, domestic violence, it is helping to foster a culture of impunity where abuse is not deterred. "What we urgently need is a commitment by individual vice-chancellors to staff training, monitoring and recording of assault levels, and linking with local women's support services to ensure victims are able to access help even if they do not report to the police. "There is also strong evidence that 'bystander programmes' where ad campaigns on campus encourage the whole student community not to stand by when harassment and assault take place in public on campus, but to challenge potential perpetrators, can be effective in deterring assaults. "We hope for a positive response from Vince Cable and from Universities UK and the Russell Group soon." The letters to the Business Secretary, Universities UK and the Russell Group, as well as the student 'toolkit' for writing to individual vice-chancellors can be read or downloaded by clicking here.  |
| Bisexual women face double discrimination Posted: 13 Feb 2015 03:40 AM PST
Lesbian and bisexual women are at risk of poor mental health, with bisexual women particularly affected due to 'double discrimination' and lack of social support, says report. An analysis of data from the largest UK survey of lesbian and bisexual women, Stonewall‘s Women's Health Survey, was published last month by researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). The original survey, which questioned 937 bisexual-identified and 4769 lesbian-identified women, and was carried out in 2007, found higher rates of smoking and drug and alcohol consumption among lesbian and bisexual women compared to the general female population. It also found higher rates of self-harm, suicide attempts and eating disorders among lesbian and bisexual women than among the general population. However, this recent analysis by the LSHTM showed that even within this group inequality exists. The bisexual-identified women surveyed differed in many ways from the lesbian-identified women. For example, bisexual women were more likely to be younger and poorer compared to lesbian women. They were also more likely to be trans-identified and from minority ethnic groups. In addition, bisexual women were more likely to report using marijuana, having eating problems, self-harming, experiencing depression and anxiety than lesbian women. Surprisingly, suicidal thoughts and eating disorders seemed to be more common among older bisexual women than younger bisexual women, despite the opposite being true among the general female population in the UK. This analysis supports the findings of a study made in 2003 in Ontario, Canada, which found that bisexual people reported poorer mental health outcomes such as anxiety and depression than heterosexuals, lesbians and gay men. The LSHTM researchers suggest these worse mental health outcomes for bisexual women may be down to experiencing 'double discrimination' – they are the victims of both homophobia and biphobia. According to BiPhoria, a Manchester-based bisexual social support group, biphobia is based on prejudices and stereotypes of bisexuals as greedy, promiscuous, deceitful, attention seeking or immature, and comes not only from the heterosexual community but also from the LGBT community. This is reflected in the LSHTM analysis, with bisexual women being less likely to be 'out' than lesbians and less likely to attend sexual minority community events. BiPhoria estimates that at least two-thirds of the bisexual community do not engage with the LGBT 'scene'. The LSHTM’s researchers also suggest that a combination of 'double discrimination' and lack of social support may explain the higher rates of poor mental health outcomes among bisexual women. However they note that the Stonewall study design means that the results are only valid for the participants in the survey and might not be generally applied to the wider population. "Bisexual people are at particular risk of invisibility and marginalisation from both gay/lesbian communities and mainstream society," said the study’s senior author Dr Ford Hickson. "Although bisexual women in our study reported experiencing less sexuality-based discrimination than lesbians, this did not benefit their mental health. "Mental health services should be aware of both the differences and the similarities in bisexual and lesbian women’s mental health care needs, and tailor the services they provide accordingly," he added. Even if not generally applicable, the analysis has highlighted the important point that biphobia is still an unchallenged prejudice in the UK and it is affecting the mental health of bisexual women. As the study’s lead author Lisa Colledge concluded: "All women deserve equal chances of mental wellbeing and happiness, regardless of their sexuality. "Homophobic prejudice is now widely and rightly condemned; specific stigma around bisexual identity needs to be similarly confronted.”  |
| Revenge porn now a specific offence Posted: 13 Feb 2015 03:38 AM PST
Under the new legislation, which will cover England and Wales as part of the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill, it will soon be easier to prosecute instances of 'revenge porn'. The big change is that there will now be a specific offence for this practice. Those found guilty of it can be sentenced to up to 2 years in prison and a fine. Revenge porn is defined as the sharing of private, sexual materials, either photos or videos, of another person, without their consent and with the purpose of causing embarrassment or distress. The offence applies both online and offline, and to images which are shared electronically or in a more traditional way so it includes the uploading of images on the internet, sharing by text and e-mail, or showing someone a physical or electronic image. Revenge porn is not new, and currently the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutes cases around revenge porn using a range of existing laws. Sending explicit or nude images of this kind may, depending on the circumstances, be an offence under the Communications Act 2003 or the Malicious Communications Act 1988. Behaviour of this kind, if repeated, may also amount to an offence of harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Under this new offence, private materials are defined as those showing anything not usually seen in public. ‘Sexual material’ not only covers images that show the pubic region, but anything that a reasonable person would consider to be sexual, so this could be a picture of someone who is engaged in sexual behaviour or posing in a sexually provocative way. This is not the first, nor only offence, relating to revenge porn. In October 2014 the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) published new guidelines on existing legislation, to support successful convictions. That clarification did not signify a new approach but clearly set out for prosecutors which laws could be used to bring these cases to court. In all cases the CPS apply the most appropriate law which best addresses the alleged offending. The Ministry of Justice is now launching a campaign aimed at raising awareness of the new legislation surrounding revenge porn. The aims of the ‘Be Aware B4 You Share’ campaign are to: Make it clear to potential perpetrators that sharing explicit images, without consent, is unacceptable; it is a crime and will be prosecuted; Discourage those thinking that sharing explicit images is a bit of fun by emphasising the impact that the sharing of private sexual images can have on a victim; and Advise victims to report the crime to the police. Shailesh Vara MP, Justice Minister, said: "Revenge porn is humiliating and distressing for the victim. We want to make it clear to victims that we take this issue very seriously and will not stand for this malicious betrayal of trust. "The real goal is to end revenge porn and our campaign is aimed at raising awareness of the new offence, in order to deter offenders from sharing private intimate photographs and films so we can stop this worrying trend." If you have been a victim of revenge porn and want to seek advice, call the helpline on 0845 6000 495.  |
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