Women: Dying to be Equal

We have all heard about horrendous acts of violence against women in other parts of the world, but should students in the UK also be concerned about the dangers of gender-based violence?

"Definitely. This form of violence knows no boundaries. It happens across class, race, religion and country. In the UK, two women per week are killed by a male partner or former partner. Other problems are forced marriages, honour killings and trafficking, all of which happen in the UK. There have recently been 12 cases of honour crimes reported just within London and 109 old cases are being reopened as the police now realise they may have been honour killings that went unnoticed. Furthermore, honour killings tend to be massively under reported, because the people that would normally report the crime - the family - are usually complicit. The scale of violence against women is extreme."

What are the more subtle and less visible examples of gender based violence arising from our culture or idea of what is normal in the UK?

"This is a difficult question for Amnesty International to answer. We do not take a stance on things such as pornography and prostitution.

In the UK, two women per week are killed by a male partner or former partner.
Heather Harvey

However, there is increasingly research investigating links between pornography or lap dancing and violence. For example, in Camden, rates of rape and sexual assault increased significantly when several lap dance clubs opened up in close proximity one after the other. Even the director of environmental health for Camden Borough was driven to publicly declare the area a ‘no-go’ zone for women. More research needs to be done as to whether or not there are these links. However, if the numbers of areas that are perceived as dangerous increase, choices and freedom of movement are limited for women; and it leads to a climate of fear."

Why is this a stop violence against women campaign rather than a stop violence against men campaign? What role should men have within it?

"I am very keen to have both men and women together working together for the ends of this campaign. Overall, men do suffer more violence. However, it is a more general and widespread form of violence. For example, brawls in the street, fights, muggings. This campaign focuses on gender based violence, which is targeted at women because they are women, and is normally suffered disproportionately by women.

There is also a need to look at masculinity. There is a need to break away from the stereotypes of men and women. Men are expected to be powerful, rich, handsome and strong, whereas most men will not and should not be expected to meet this standard. Many men are gentle and emotionally aware; we should enable and encourage that. They should embrace the opportunities provided by a move towards less rigid stereotypes. Both men and women would benefit from challenging the exaggerated sense of difference between the two genders."

In which countries and which kinds of women are most vulnerable to violence?

"I hesitate to say that some countries are worse than others. Some kinds of violence are more obvious and some are more subtle and insidious. There is still a lot in the UK, stalking and harassment for example. Furthermore, the UK is a top destination for traffickers and has a high rate of domestic violence. Violence against women is fairly consistent across world.

Both men and women would benefit from challenging the exaggerated sense of difference between the two genders.
Heather Harvey

However, the more excluded or marginalised people are, the greater the risk. This includes issues of caste, race, class and religion. Women with disabilities suffer more violence. This is related to their often more vulnerable position and abuses of power imbalances inherent in that. It is also related to their limited ability to access justice. This creates the possibility of crimes with impunity.

We are particularly worried about the group of women living on a temporary visa in the UK. The 'no recourse to public funds' rule says that a woman in this position - even if she's married to a British citizen - is not entitled to certain state benefits, including housing benefit and income support. They are financially dependent on others and cannot go to a refuge because refuge works on the principle that housing benefit and income support is paid to the refuge to cover their living costs. Recently, one pregnant woman in the UK was beaten by her husband. This did not kill the baby. However, he threw petrol over her and threatened to set her alight. Refuges wanted to help her but couldn’t because she had no recourse to public funds so she was turned away."

Globally, which laws or practices do you think most urgently need to be changed in the campaign to end violence against women?

"One of the main areas is where there are discriminatory legal codes against women. For example, there are codes built into certain South American laws stating that if a man kills a woman for being sexually ‘dishonourable’ he has a lesser sentence. There are also discriminatory laws in the Middle East and Africa. Other laws bar women from holding senior office or state that women’s testimony is worth less. We are currently supporting the campaign for equality run by women’s groups in Iran who are campaigning to repeal or abolish discriminatory laws. The UK should ratify European Convention against Trafficking.

The necessary targets are different in different parts of the world. In Turkey Amnesty campaigned for shelters for battered women. In Albania Amnesty campaigned for the recognition of domestic violence as a crime in itself. We try to decide our campaign areas in conjunction with women’s organisations in the country. However, the broadest, most encompassing area is that concerning laws which discriminate. "

Last year, David Cameron stated that there has been a ‘moral collapse’ in Britain with reference to attitudes towards women and sexual violence. He singled out the music industry and the media as areas where women should be presented in a more responsible and respectful way. Do you agree with his comments and what do you think should be done to challenge attitudes in the UK?

"There has not been enough Amnesty International research to take a stance. The term ‘moral collapse’ is slightly loaded. There’s a risk that this will be brought back to women getting divorced or being bad mothers. We are, however, concerned about the normalisation of violence. The sexualisation of women is not helpful in terms of promoting respect. It can feed those kinds of attitudes that blame women for rape. For example, an ICM poll commissioned by Amnesty in November 2005 found that: one third of Britons of all ages and both genders felt that if a woman is drunk, or sexily dressed, or flirting she is at least partially responsible for her own rape. Rape is the only crime where the behaviour of the victim is always under scrutiny. This can encourage rape as it makes it a low risk crime for the perpetrator: she is unlikely to report, he is unlikely to be caught and he is extremely unlikely to be convicted. The conviction rate is only 5.7% and part of this is because the spotlight is not on his but on her behaviour."

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