That Girl from Derwent dwells on the value of religion this Christmas.
That Girl from Derwent has learned a few more things about prejudice since moving up North.
That Girl From Derwent reckons if you're going to be offensive, you should find a better reason.
That Girl from Derwent considers why it is that some words have wider implications than others.
Since the 1970s feminists (both male and female) have been standing up (quite literally) to violence against women through the Reclaim The Night marches that have taken place in many parts of the world. A few weekends ago I had the opportunity to join hundreds of others in such an obvious protest against female subjugation.
One of my favourite campaign slogans floating around during the last YUSU elections was "Whatever we wear, Wherever we go, Yes means yes, No means no." Sadly, this is a point which still needs to be made. The battle against rape apologists who try to argue that a flirty smile or short skirt mean a victim "deserved" what they got is far from being won.
Until the myths surrounding sexual assault are wiped out women are unlikely to feel safe, a right they are entitled to. The horrific reality that an overwhelming 95% of women and a large proportion of men feel unsafe to be out on the streets at night is something I feel is worth making some noise about.
To me it can sometimes seem that society would sooner hide women away than alter perspectives or try to solve the real problems at hand. Reclaim The Night tries to shout this view down.
Women are seen on the streets. Heard on the streets. We don't wrap coats tightly around ourselves and, hands in pockets, eyes downwards, scurry back home.
We all make noise together. We all shout together. We all chant together.
We do the things we should be able to do every night, without the support of hundreds of others. We live our lives in spite of the sun no longer shining. By taking to the streets and being seen and not scared the march aims to show that women are never to blame for the violence perpetrated against them.
Reclaim The Night York aims to do exactly what it says on the tin: it's a protest against the mentality that people should be forced to decide between safety and halving their lives. Nobody should be afraid of stepping outside of their front doors, they shouldn't be afraid of wearing whatever they want or acting in a certain way.
The protest against the epidemic levels of violence against women in our society is still as important today as it was in the 1970s when the marches first began. In fact, statistically speaking, it may be even more of a pressing issue than back then. Today the conviction rate for sexually related crimes is around 8%; in fact Britain has the lowest rape conviction rate in the EU.
The solution is not to keep avoiding the problem. The only way forward is to speak out against violence and reclaiming the spaces from which we are told we are not safe, not allowed to be in, that we must be protected from.
Safety is an issue for everyone and that's why I feel it's important for men and women alike to attend Week 10's Reclaim the Night York event. The signs asking us not to walk down a certain path at night are not good enough. Those who are responsible need to be held accountable. We need to stand up and be heard.
We don't need protection, we need a change.
Reclaim the Night York will be on Monday Week 10 and is open to everyone. Meeting at 5.30 in Market Square, for a 6pm march around campus. See the Facebook event Reclaim The Night March- York for more details.
Platitudinous vapidity. Might I suugest you stop blogging on "my first political march", stop deluding yourself that a candlelight vigil and some outmoded feminist zeal will change the world, and propose something concrete? I'm sure it pleases you and others to strut and fret your hour on the campus stage, spending other people's student loans on feminist initiatives only of interest to fellow zealots, but do you really believe that marching through a university campus or "raising the profile" of the injustices that so appall you will achieve anything?
Wow, that's a vitriolic response. Do you honestly believe that there isn't a safety issue with poorly lit major campus routes like 'rape alley' - a fond nickname but nonetheless a telling one - and that even in York increasing attacks on not only women but students in general are not an issue?
Though violence towards women is undeniably a very important problem, I don't think it is a very big one on campus, so the march would probably be better staged in town. Also, the world in which, "Nobody should be afraid of stepping outside of their front doors, they shouldn't be afraid of wearing whatever they want or acting in a certain way," is very sadly an impossible one. To achieve that would require a terrifying amount of CCTV and policing.
I really like the message behind the campaign and would love to see it do well, but I do struggle to see how talking about existing violence is going to deter would-be muggers/rapists etc. from going ahead with what they want to do anyway. All I'm asking is what concrete solutions 'Reclaim the Night' is aiming for.
"against the epidemic levels of violence against women in our society "
I agree that this is an extremely serious and sensitive issue, but I think that this sentence is a bit of an exaggeration. Needless to say that no amount of violence is acceptable or justified in any way, but let us not forget that it is a small minority of people who inflict it. The vast majority of the male population would never, ever hurt a woman and would consider it to be the height of dishonour. The least you could do is acknowledge it.
6/10 women experience domestic violence at some time in their lives, and 4/10 men do. Current estimations are that 1/6 women in London will be raped at some point in their lives. They are horrifying statistics. What's more, women are most likely to suffer rape and any other form of abuse at the hands of someone they know i.e. a family member is often the abuser.
The case of Vanessa George, Plymouth nursery worker, sparked quite an interesting topic (which now seems to have died down...) about the amount of women who are sex offenders. Someone did a study that showed two thirds of sex offenders in a prison had been abused by a woman. If this seemed to be common among many male sex offenders, we might be able to eventually end the cycle of abused = abusive. Men and boys NEED better after care. Predominantly because any victim does, but also because to fail to do so could lead to more victims in the future. Also, boys and men need encouragement and support in order to report sexual abuse, by men or women. If this happens, more research can be done into whether women who were abused become abusive. It is only when we understand why people act as they do that we can try to stop it happening again.
"Current estimations are that 1/6 women in London will be raped at some point in their lives"
These statistics are questionable at best. Rape estimations tend to be unreliable (they vary widely), arbitrary (we simply can't know the percentage of unreported rapes) and of little scientific value.
Hardly anybody, however, would dare to challenge them when they are used in a discussion as the issue of male-female rape has become extremely politicised. Such is the power of emotional bullying and the academic left knows very well how to use it.
It may also be worth reading this:
"Several studies argue that male-male prisoner rape might be the most common and least-reported form of rape, with some studies suggesting such rapes are substantially more common in both per-capita and raw-number totals than male-female rapes in the general population."
(Note that I am not arguing against the Womens' Committee protest, nor do I think that this is issue is any less serious because of some questionable statistics.)
I'm a little annoyed at some of the comments.
Firstly, the Womens Committee as part of YUSU have contributed to thoughts and discussions on how to improve the safety on-campus and off-campus and marches like this are a vital part of the process. I'm surprised that anyone would ask whether people "believe that...raising the profile...of the injustices that so appall you will achieve anything?" - I mean, YES, how the hell would you do it without telling people about the problems?
And secondly, I know someone who was raped on campus in my first year. To suggest that it doesn't happen it poor - and even if it happens more often in town (though I'm aware of more "rape alleys" near St John and our Uni so I'm not sure which is more commonplace) it is good to raise awareness of the issue wherever. If you want to organise one in town, feel free! I believe the Committee also led marches or attended marches in a couple of other cities so it's not exactly like they're ignoring issues off-campus!
And prisoner-prisoner rapes may well be commonplace but I'm not certain as to how we would be able to do that much from our University - and I'm definitely not certain as to how male-male rapes in prisons are the concern of WomCom? Just my thoughts!
I know it is a small point set against the backdrop of a serious issue, but I have to take issue with the notion that 1/6 of London women will be raped. That's nonsense, not even 1/6 of the female characters on Eastenders (a dramatisation of London life) get raped.
London must be atypical anyway - given the amount of time John Leslie spends there.
The article doesn't even mention that the march is being organised by Women's Committee. Knowing that would've explained why it's only on campus and only about women's safety not men's too, which is useful background info to say the least.
Jason Rose, I didn't say that male-male rapes are the concern of WomCom or that we, as students, can do anything about them. And let me repeat that I have no issues whatsoever with this protest. I only took issue with the use of rape statistics that are evidently biased and incorrect. I think that this issue is far too serious to allow misinformation to go unchallenged.
"The Womens[sic] Committee as part of YUSU have contributed to thoughts and discussions on how to improve the safety on-campus and off-campus and marches like this are a vital part of the process. I'm surprised that anyone would ask whether people "believe that...raising the profile...of the injustices that so appall you will achieve anything?" - I mean, YES, how the hell would you do it without telling people about the problems?"
How are marches with placards a "vital part of the process"? They are certainly an opportunity for self-absorped self-proclaimed campus celebrities and activists to piss away other people's student loans on self-promotion, and thay are undoubtedly an opportunity for minority interest groups to arrogate to themselves a disproportionate profile and importance, but I still ask you what they actually achieve?
Regarding Women's Committee, I do question what exactly they can contribute to any discussion on campus policy? An organisation whose modus vivendi is entirely to "Raise awareness of women's issues" is frankly an outmoded relic of 1960's feminism with no more contemporary utlity or legitimacy than Harriet Harman. Nothing but an excuse for politically agnostic, self-aggrandising careerists to waste other people's money and time bolstering their own CV's and massaging their own consciences.
comment deleted by the author I agree with you, #11, in the sense that statistics are indeed difficult to get - the same is true of many issues, such as trafficking, illegal immigrants etc. It doesn't mean that it can't be estimated and it doesn't mean that they're always overexaggerated - I've heard the number 1/4 women quoted and I think that 1/6 is a relatively reasonable statistic. It's over the course of an entire lifetime and remember that even in 1960 it was legal to rape your wife: 3/4 of attacks are still "date rapes" that are from people you know (again, statistic is one I've read not necessarily exact) and it's including within all relationships. It's a *horrible* statistic but just because it is high, it doesn't mean that we should ignore it. Hence marches!
"Politically agnostic...careerists [wasting] other people's money and time bolstering their own CVs"
Firstly: Agnostic? They're quite passionate about what they do and they argue quite publicly - I challenge you to tell them that they're politically agnostic! But also, how is being on the Women's Committee likely to improve their career chances compared to other possibilities - their CV isn't massively improved compared to a couple of YUSU positions, an increased degree grade or a society chairship? If they were careerists then I'm certain they wouldn't be spending time on issues that do little beyond helping others. And it's not like they spend much money on it 
Also, there is still a massive division between men and women on a great many issues, both ways, and it's important to address them. If Women's Committee can lower the number of sexual assaults in York by even one per decade, it's worth it.
From the amount of friends/acquaintances I have who have been raped, the statistics don't surprise me at all. If the people who are challenging the frequency of rape have never met anyone who has been raped, and challenge statistics, how can you have any preconceptions about how common rape is?
Many of the women I've spoken to who say they have been raped say "I don't know if it was raped, because we started to have sex, I said no, and he kept going". That IS rape. And it IS common.
Also, I don't see how anyone can have ANY issue whatsoever with a campaign designed to highlight the promiance of rape in any area. Who cares if it's more common between men in prison or in a city other than campus??? Do we only complain about issues that are the most frequent, or is not ANY violence, ANY injustice wrong and in dire need of correcting?
Jason Rose, what you think or what I think is irrelevant. The fact remains that these statistics are nothing more than pure guesswork: as I've said, we simply have no way of knowing what percentage of rapes are not getting reported. Hence, these estimates have no scientific value whatsoever, and you can easily see that for yourself by checking how much they vary.
About 85,000 cases of rape are reported each year in the UK (a number which is still absolutely shocking) and I'm afraid that this is as much as any of us can know with any degree of certainty.
I repeat that this issue is much too serious for any of us to tolerate any kind of misinformation, let alone politically motivated scare-tactics.
I would disagree with the usage of the word "pure" - they are indeed guesswork but if I guessed the age of a lecturer, I would expect not to miss the mark by 200%. I think we can assume that the statistic lies in the 1/4 to 1/8 range - and anything above 1/100 is ridiculously high. Not to mention that I agree with #15 by pointing out how many people I know that have been raped (or, as said above, had sex despite saying no!).
I would also point out that despite knowing of more than zero people who have been raped, I know of zero who have reported it. So I can tell you with certainty that there are many rapes that aren't getting reported... and 85,000 people per year is still a total of one in seventeen women being raped ((and therefore if you assume 1/4 of rapes are reported, 1 in four isn't that high!)) etc. etc. etc.
As has been said, "I don't see how anyone can have ANY issue whatsoever with a campaign designed to highlight the promiance of rape in any area" and I can't believe that you're seriously suggesting that this is a case of "politically motivated scare-tactics"!
12 - You are exactly the kind of person who needs their awareness of women's issues raising. We do not yet live in a society where men and women are equal, it sounds obvious but you don't seem to know this. Equal pay is obviously a prominent issue - the difference in this pay gap effectively means that, compared to men, women work approximately a quarter of the year for free. And this is an issue that is likely to affect men as this pay difference is addressed - just a few months ago in Leeds there was an 'equality regrading scheme' where rather than raise the women's salary to be equal, they dropped the salaries of male workers. Male rubbish collectors dropped 33% of their salary, from £18,000 to £13,000, and the city was filthy as they (understandably) went on strike. These issues affect everyone, so your awareness is really quite key.
And that is arguably a less immediate issue when ridiculously high numbers of women are still victims of violence. Violence against women is still the most commonly committed offence, with the British Crime Survey (2004) estimating 12.9 million incidents per year of violence against women in the UK and Wales alone. There are issues surrounding arranged/forced marriages, so called honour killings, prostitution, sex trafficking, an increase of genital mutilation in this country. Awareness of these needs to be raised as much for women in this country as for women in others - it's lucky for you that you weren't born a woman into a war-torn country, where gang-rape is frequently used as a weapon; or born a lesbian in Sierra Leone, forced to marry your male cousin and then routinely raped (as Florence Moses was).
If you can't see that issues like this exist, can't have a little compassion, or a little respect for the work of women's committee (who put up with people like you stereotyping and dismissing them), can't see that these issues affect women and men also then you are a bigger misogynist than I gave you credit for. Raising awareness on campus isn't always about campus policy, it's about informing students (through raising awareness) about what goes on in the world at large.
"As has been said, "I don't see how anyone can have ANY issue whatsoever with a campaign designed to highlight the promiance of rape in any area" and I can't believe that you're seriously suggesting that this is a case of "politically motivated scare-tactics"!"
And as I've said at least twice already, I have no issue whatsoever with this protest and I'm only challenging the use of shoddy statistics, which in this case are indeed nothing more than a politically motivated scare-tactic.
So don't use any more emotional bullying of the you-either-agree-with-my-arbitrary-estimates-or-you-support-male-chauvinism type please cause it just won't work.
19 - 'a politically-motivated scare tactic' - who exactly are these statistics meant to scare? Rapists, into not committing offenses? Or women, into not leaving the house in case they're raped? I'm interested...
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