Will 2025 be the year our government takes male violence against women seriously?

This article refers to domestic violence, rape and homicide.

2024 was, in many ways, defined by violence against women and girls. The murders of Carol, Hannah and Louise Hunt in July were quickly followed by the mass stabbing of girls in a dance class, which left Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alica da Silva Aguiar dead. Shortly afterwards, a woman and her 11-year-old daughter were stabbed in Leicester Square. Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei was murdered by her ex-partner who set her on fire. The world then learned of the horrors of the mass rape of Gisèle Pelicot as his case came to trial. And just before Christmas, the man who killed Amie Gray while she was picnicking with a friend on the beach was reported to harbor strong misogynistic views.

The terrible misinformation and far-right violence that followed the tragic stabbings in Southport sought to distort public concerns about male violence against women and girls to spread a hateful agenda. If we want to address some of the deeper causes of the unrest.

At a time when our political and information landscape is so deeply polarized, we need government actions and policies that are rooted in the values ​​of our universal rights, freedoms and equality.

The Prime Minister has committed to halving violence against women and girls in a decade; something that requires all parts of government to work together to deliver a whole-of-society approach to ending this abuse. The success of this mission must be determined by the transformed experiences of victims and survivors of male violence against women and girls, the majority of whom never report abuse committed against them and remain unable to access safety, support and the justice they deserve.

This means we must broaden the scope beyond a narrow focus on the criminal justice system and look holistically at everything from the role of health care, housing, education, and more. By addressing inequality, equipping professionals with the tools to identify and respond to abuse, and educating young people about consent and healthy relationships, we can focus on preventing harm, rather than only responding after it has already occurred. .

Education is a crucial part of our campaign with Glamor UK, #NotYourPorn, world-leading expert Professor Clare McGlynn and survivor Jodie*. We must face the growing challenge of image based abuse such as non-consensual sexually explicit deepfakes and so-called ‘revenge porn’. These forms of abuse cause profound harm to victims and have a chilling effect on women’s freedom of expression when threats are used to silence women who “speak up” or interact on social media or any public forum.

When women and girls experience abuse, specialist support services are vitally important to help them recover, access justice and stay safe from further harm. However, many are facing extreme financial hardship as successive governments have failed to provide the resources needed to keep these services afloat. Rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, and specialized community services for black, immigrant, and minority women provide a lifeline to women in need. A government committed to tackling violence against women cannot allow them to close their waiting lists or close altogether.

Six months have passed since new government came to powerand we are still waiting to see how it will deliver on its commitments to meaningfully address violence against women and girls. The rhetoric around making prevention a priority is not enough: we need to see multi-year funding that meets the demand for specialized support and victim advocacy, quality relationships and prioritized sexuality education in schools for every young person and for everyone. society. approach to tackling abuse led by all government departments.

The magnitude of violence against women and girls in the UK is a national emergency and we cannot afford to waste time – we need a meaningful strategy for change that starts delivering on the government’s mission now.

GLAMOR is campaigning for the government to introduce a Image-Based Abuse Bill in partnership with Jodie Campaigns, the Coalition to End Violence Against Women, Not Your Porn and Professor Clare McGlynn.