Women's Views on News |
| Support compulsory, comprehensive sex education Posted: 20 Sep 2016 05:49 AM PDT
Earlier this month, a report published by the Women and Equalities Committee revealed shocking levels of sexual harassment and sexual violence in schools across the UK. According to the evidence collected, almost a third of 16 to 18 year-old girls say they have been subjected to unwanted touching at school and 71 per cent of boys and girls say they heard terms like "slut" and "slag" directed at girls at school on a regular basis. And in 2014, 59 per cent of girls and young women said that they had experienced some sort of sexual harassment at school or college in the past year. To say that these statistics are unacceptable would be a gross understatement. The report also found shocking inconsistencies in how schools deal with sexual harassment and violence, a disregard for national and international equality obligations, and a lack of guidance and support for teachers. Maria Miller, MP, chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, pictured, said: “We have heard girls talk about sexual bullying and abuse as an expected part of their everyday life; with teachers accepting sexual harassment as “just banter”; and parents struggling to know how they can best support their children. Following the report, MPs and other high-profile figures including Nicola Roberts, an ambassador for children’s charity Barnardo’s, have reiterated the critical need for comprehensive sex education to be made compulsory in all schools. But earlier this year former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan rejected calls from MPs and four House of Commons committees to make sex and relationship education a mandatory part of the curriculum in all schools, including free schools and academies. Not only are some children missing out altogether on this vital education, but even those who do get it are being let down. Unbelievably, government guidance on sex and relationship education (SRE) in English schools hasn’t been updated for sixteen years (!) and makes no reference to pornography – despite evidence that its availability online, and its content, can facilitate harassment and sexual violence. Sex and relationship education needs to be thorough and cover a wide range of topics, including sexuality, emotional abuse, consent, gender identity, LGBT+ issues, masturbation, and all types of sex, not just penetrative. As things stand, most teenagers receive a brief lesson on how to put a condom on and how to avoid falling pregnant and catching an STI – and that’s it. In light of this, is it any wonder that sexual harassment and violence in schools has reached such high levels? Perhaps if everyone received proper sex and relationship education and were appropriately disciplined for unacceptable behaviour, these issues wouldn’t be so prevalent in wider society. Perhaps women wouldn’t have to face so much sexism and discrimination once they leave school, and perhaps we would be able to travel by ourselves, to go clubbing, to work, to use public transport, without constantly having to put up with unwanted touching and comments, or worse. I just hope that the Women and Equalities Committee’s report will serve as the push that the government needs to do the right thing and not only make sex education compulsory in every single school in the country, but also update it and provide more help and support to academic institutions and teachers. The government, schools and teachers have a responsibility to keep children in the UK safe. Currently, they are not fulfilling this duty of care, and as a result we are not just failing girls, but all young people. “It is difficult to explain why any school would allow girls to be subjected to sexual harassment and violent behaviour that has,” Miller pointed out, “been outlawed in the adult workplace. “The evidence shows it is undermining the confidence of young women,” she continued. “Failing to reinforce what is acceptable behaviour could well be fuelling the ‘Lad Culture’ that the government has already identified as a problem in colleges and universities. “Despite this, the Department for Education and OFSTED have no coherent plan to ensure schools tackle the causes and consequences of sexual harassment and sexual violence. “Too many schools are failing to recognise this as a problem and therefore failing to act.” Click here to sign the petition to make sex and relationship education compulsory.  |
| Wales: report on survivors’ consultation Posted: 20 Sep 2016 05:22 AM PDT
Between January and March 2016, women and men who had recently experienced domestic abuse, sexual violence or other forms of violence against women were invited to attend focus groups throughout Wales. These groups were organised by Welsh Women's Aid and led by an independent facilitator, in partnership with specialist services. The abuse or violence included rape and sexual violence, domestic abuse, forced marriage, so-called 'honour' crimes, female genital mutilation (FGM), stalking, trafficking, sexual harassment and exploitation. The 66 survivors who participated were asked about their recent experience of using services, their recommendations for improving service responses, and priorities for the national strategy in relation to prevention, protection and support. The result is ‘A Survivor Consultation: to inform the National Strategy in Wales’. This consultation also involved testing out a model in which survivors empower and educate services (seeds), and their views on this and other approaches to continued survivor engagement in Wales were sought. The survivors then made a number of recommendations which have been used in the development of a new national strategy on violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. They also made recommendations for improvements in specific agencies, and provided feedback on what they felt should be the priorities for the National Adviser. And they also showed overwhelming support for a sustainable model of consultation and engagement. They all wanted to ensure that survivors' voices and experiences remain central to government and local action to improve prevention, protection and provision of support services throughout Wales. An overview of all the recommendations made by survivors is contained in Chapter 5 of the report. Survivors also identified 10 key recommendations for priority inclusion in the updated national strategy, to be enacted by the Welsh government: 1 – Dedicated specialist services for children and young people impacted by or experiencing domestic abuse, sexual violence, FGM, forced marriage, sexual exploitation or harassment to be available in every area. 2 – Specialist domestic abuse and sexual violence services for survivors that are accessible and resourced to meet the needs of specific survivor groups to be available in every area. 3 – Improved awareness of and response to violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence by professionals involved in the family justice system – such as CAFCASS Cymru, judges and court personnel, and contact centres – and safe child contact with parents/carers following separation in cases of domestic abuse and sexual violence. 4 – Accessible 'refuge service' support in every area, accompanied by safe, affordable, longer-term housing options for survivors of abuse, that provide flexibility, choice and meet survivors' needs. 5 – Women's groups and peer support to be available in every area, to reduce isolation and maximise independent spaces that increase confidence, esteem and empowerment. 6 – Protection and support for all survivors who have no recourse to public funds, to ensure equal access to safety, support, protection and justice and finances to live independently, irrespective of survivors' immigration and residency status. 7 – Counselling and therapeutic services for survivors that is available in every area, when needed, is age-appropriate, and helps build resilience and helps recovery from abuse. 8 – A greater focus on stopping perpetrators' behaviour and holding them to account by public services, and where violence and abuse involves coercive control, action by public services to ensure perpetrators leave and end abusive relationships. 9 – Improved training for all services on all aspects of violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence, informed by survivors' experiences. 10 – Preventing violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence from happening in the first place, through compulsory prevention education in all schools and colleges, increasing awareness of the issues and the help available in local communities across Wales. Survivors were concerned that there could be a delay in delivering improved interventions in the short-term, and therefore recommended that the National Adviser ensures that both the government and public authorities took action to deliver improvements in the following areas: media and publicity campaigns; education; immigration; sustainable funding for specialist services; family and criminal courts and the development of a sustainable model for future survivor engagement. In Wales in 2013/14, there were 6,325 prosecutions of violence against women and girls offences, with a conviction rate of 76.7 per cent. Of these, 5,637 were cases of domestic abuse; 257 cases of rape, and 431 cases of sexual offences. The costs of violence and abuse to the economy are also significant. Domestic abuse alone costs Wales £303.5million annually: £202.6million in service costs and £100.9million to lost economic output. These figures do not include any element of human and emotional costs, which research estimates cost Wales an additional £522.9million. The cost to public purse is considerably higher when other forms of violence against women are included, like sexual violence, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, stalking, harassment and sexual exploitation In addition to strengthening the legislative and policy framework on addressing all forms of violence against women in Wales, the Welsh government has also introduced relevant parallel legislation including the Well-Being of Future Generations Act 2015. The aim there is to improve the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of Wales, by making public bodies think more about the long-term, work better with people and communities and each other, look to prevent problems and take a more joined-up approach. To read the full consultation report, click here.  |
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