Violence against women and girls - Human Rights Joint Committee

Violence against women and girls - Human Rights Joint Committee Contents

3 Prevention

Awareness raising (Article 13)

29. Article 13 of the Istanbul Convention requires the UK to promote or conduct awareness raising campaigns. This is a policy-based requirement. As discussed in this chapter, the Home Office has taken the lead on awareness raising campaigns but there is a need for campaigns to be cross-departmental—for example the Department for Communities and Local Government liaise with faith leaders and the Department for Education is responsible for disseminating relevant campaigns to schools.

Article 13—Awareness-raising

1 Parties shall promote or conduct, on a regular basis and at all levels, awareness-raising campaigns or programmes, including in co-operation with national human rights institutions and equality bodies, civil society and non-governmental organisations, especially women's organisations, where appropriate, to increase awareness and understanding among the general public of the different manifestations of all forms of violence covered by the scope of this Convention, their consequences on children and the need to prevent such violence.

2 Parties shall ensure the wide dissemination among the general public of information on measures available to prevent acts of violence covered by the scope of this Convention.

HOW WELL IS THE UK FULFILLING THE POSITIVE OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION?

30. The Government's Action Plan says that in the last 12 months it has successfully bid "for funding (approximately £250,000) from the European Commission to fund a project raising awareness of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the UK" as well as "re-launching the highly successful This is Abuse campaign, including collaborations with Hollyoaks [a TV soap opera] and MTV, and a new focus on reaching young male perpetrators."[31]

31. The Government has also worked with or supported other campaigns aimed at fostering cultural change and focusing on male behaviour. On 9 June the Home Office launched a campaign which ran alongside the 2014 World Cup, urging young men to think about the consequences of domestic abuse. Posters were placed in hundreds of men's toilets across pubs and bars in England, and digital adverts were featured on the Sky Sports website and app. Aimed at 18 to 35-year-olds, the campaign reminded men that abuse doesn't have to be physical, as threats and controlling behaviour also count. The adverts also reminded potential perpetrators of the terrible impact of domestic abuse, both physical and psychological, on relationships. It signposted available support, with contact details for the charity Respect.[32]

32. We are also aware of a campaign by Women's Aid to raise awareness of violence against women in popular culture in, for example the use of lyrics depicting domestic violence by Welsh Rugby fans when they sing the song 'Delilah', by Tom Jones, during games.[33]

33. Other organisations have also taken steps to help foster a culture of change, in particular focusing on men. Sussex Police helped promote challenging domestic abuse when they worked to obtain a full page promotion for White Ribbon Campaign, a campaign for women to take a stand against violence against women, in Want you Dead, a thriller about stalking by Peter James. The book was Number 2 in the hardback fiction charts. Alongside this, the White Ribbon Campaign produced a set of anti-stalking campaign materials, including posters.[34]

34. In articles and written evidence, different forms of media have been argued to have a positive effect in changing cultural attitudes. The researchers on an Economic and Social Research Council funded project, From Boys to Men, said: "Social marketing has the potential to open a thoroughgoing conversation between young people and adults about the nature of domestic abuse and what can be done to engage those boys and men who begin to perpetrate it […] Social marketing campaigns should also help explore some of the ways young men might respond when they are troubled by other men's behaviour, without necessarily having to physically confront perpetrators or endanger victims".[35]

35. Dr Joanna Goodey, Head of Freedoms and Justice Department at the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, said that media campaigns could have a positive impact on cultural attitudes and gave examples of good practice from other countries:

36. Chris Green, Director of the White Ribbon Campaign, argued that the Government needs to continue to challenge the normalisation of violence against women amongst boys and young men. He said: "I think it is hugely important to engage with men. It is men's responsibility; we commit 90% of [violence] against women."[37] Article 12 of the Istanbul Convention requires the UK "to take the necessary measures to encourage all members of society, especially men and boys, to contribute actively to preventing all forms of violence covered by the scope of this Convention."

37. We also heard evidence that, whilst the Government's campaigns are welcome, they could be made more effective. Professor Liz Kelly, Co-Chair of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, argued that the Government's This is Abuse campaign is not used as strategically as it could be. She said: "some schools do not even know that it exists. There is not a systematic way of alerting the schools that, each November, this is going to come up, and they could actually use it as a resource."[38] The End Violence Against Women Coalition called for: "long term investment in public campaigns to change harmful attitudes and behaviours, learning from the THINK! Road safety campaign."[39]

38. JAN Trust argued for awareness raising that is: "culturally sensitive and informed by specific best response practice [so] that government rhetoric and strategy concerned with manifestations of VAWG most likely found in certain communities do not contribute to an 'othering', racially divisive discourse that merely drives the victims to feel further alienated from mainstream British society".[40] The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales called for: "community engagement programmes directed at modifying attitudes towards and cultural practices relating to VAWGs".[41]

39. We also heard evidence from different groups within society that may be difficult to reach through current campaigns. As we said in our Introduction, we recognise this crosses lines of race, religion and culture. Northern Ireland Women's European Platform told us:

40. Paul Valentine, a profoundly Deaf man who works for the Exeter Royal Academy's BSL counselling service, told us about the difficulties for those that are deaf: "the Deaf community is very small, which can make it a stressful environment to live in, with not many other opportunities to make friends outside of the community [d]ue to language barriers. For hearing people, if they make a mistake, or upset people they have the option to leave that friendship group or because they have many friendship groups, their mistake can be diluted […] participants have no option but to stay in the community, or else risk total isolation."[43] The issue of language barriers is not exclusive to the deaf community. Cris McCurley, solicitor and partner in the practice of Ben Hoare Bell LLP, identifies women living in the UK without the English language as extremely vulnerable.[44]

41. The Lesbian and Gay Foundation told us about the need to direct prevention action and awareness campaigns at the LGB&T community as well: "Currently there is no strategic approach from prevention to detection and treatment of domestic abuse for LGB&T people […] Information displays in waiting areas need to include LGB&T friendly material to make LGB&T people feel welcome and reduce barriers to accessing support services. Separate literature needs to be developed targeting LGBT victims and identifying LGBT specific weapons of power and control. For instance, many LGBT people do not realise that a threat to out them is a form of domestic abuse."[45]

42. Paul Valentine and the Lesbian and Gay Foundation represent two of a number of communities where there are challenges regarding reaching victims of violence against women and girls as well as awareness raising. We are particularly concerned about the ability of the existing awareness campaigns to reach victims in these sorts of communities.

43. In response to questions about how well initiatives are working at raising awareness amongst men, the Minister for Crime Prevention, the Rt Hon Lynne Featherstone MP, said the Government: "support all of the campaigns that take this on, such as the White Ribbon campaign and the UN's HeForShe".[46] Regarding awareness campaigns for different communities, the Minister for Crime Prevention said that the Government had given £10,000 to "a scheme […] about training champions to go into those communities that are closed to us and begin that change mechanism. In the case of FGM, another example would be working with faith leaders. These are mainly patriarchal societies where what the faith or community leader says goes."[47]

44. We acknowledge the work that the Government has undertaken to work with faith leaders. However, witnesses raised concerns regarding state actors working with such leaders as they need also to "build up trust with the women and girls who are at risk" and cooperate with the organisations who are working directly with women.[48]

45. We commend the Government for the awareness-raising initiatives it has undertaken but note that evidence indicates that a lack of co-ordination across departments has reduced the potential reach, delivery and ultimately success of these initiatives. We recommend that the Inter-Ministerial Group monitor the success and effectiveness of the campaigns to ensure that future campaigns are evidence based.

46. We also recommend that campaigns sometimes need to be targeted and specific. This would help reach communities with particular needs—for example, people with disabilities or LGB&T people. We commend the This is Abuse campaign for raising awareness of the issue of consent and coercive control and recommend that it be extended further to focus on LGB&T relationships. We also recommend that the Government should support the charities and organisations that could raise awareness with women within communities rather than just targeting faith and community based leaders.

Education (Article 14)

47. Article 14 of the Istanbul Convention specifies that teaching material on issues of violence against women and girls is included in formal curricula at all levels of education. This is a policy and practice based requirement. This Article places a requirement on the Department for Education, but its second paragraph shows that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport should also play a central role.

Article 14—Education

1 Parties shall take, where appropriate, the necessary steps to include teaching material on issues such as equality between women and men, non-stereotyped gender roles, mutual respect, non-violent conflict resolution in interpersonal relationships, gender-based violence against women and the right to personal integrity, adapted to the evolving capacity of learners, in formal curricula and at all levels of education.

2 Parties shall take the necessary steps to promote the principles referred to in paragraph 1 in informal educational facilities, as well as in sports, cultural and leisure facilities and the media.

48. We note that the House of Commons Education Select Committee is conducting an inquiry into the effectiveness of how Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) and Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) are taught in schools and whether they should be statutory as part of the National Curriculum or through some other method.

HOW WELL IS THE UK FULFILLING THE POSITIVE OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION?

49. The Government's Action Plan sets out the following actions for the Department for Education:

a) to promote the teaching in schools of sexual consent and the importance of healthy relationships;

b) to promote the outcomes from the newly established Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) and Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) expert subject group to help provide support to teachers;

c) to pursue a range of channels to make suitable materials available to schools on violence against women and girls and related safeguarding issues, including the supplementary guidance on SRE produced by the PSHE Association, the Sex Education Forum and Brook; and

d) to work with partners, including the PSHE Association, head and teacher associations and unions and the Early Intervention Foundation, to give school staff effective access to a range of information and resources on violence against women and girls and related safeguarding issues.[49]

50. Emily Burnage, Preventative Education Project Worker, RISE, said that: "there are pockets where there is some really good work being done, but provision in terms of PSHE and SRE is patchy, so it could be that some children and young people are leaving school with very little information around sex and relationships education". She added that in: "the current climate in education where attainment is really important, PSHE is one of those things that can go by the wayside".[50]

51. Sue Berelowitz, Deputy Children's Commissioner for England, said: "PSHE, and relationships and sex education, should be mandated across all schools."[51] Although she acknowledged that PSHE needs to be "part of a wider picture […] It cannot be the only thing. It must be matched by all the other work that needs to take place."[52] The PSHE Association agreed: "We have long campaigned for a statutory entitlement to PSHE education for every child, to ensure that the subject is delivered by trained teachers, and given sufficient time on the curriculum."[53]

52. Emily Burnage explained different schools' approaches to delivering PSHE:

53. We hosted an online forum which asked parents for their views and experiences of education for children about violence against women and girls (see Appendix 1).[55] 77% of respondents thought that not enough was being done to educate children about gender-related violence. The majority of parents who posted in the forum argued that education needs to be improved around relationships, consent and abuse, but there was less consensus about the depth to which educational materials should go into issues concerning violence against women and girls. Some argued that better relationship education in schools was needed, which would include content dealing with consent and abuse in relationships. Several parents referred to the Freedom Programme. This Programme is an awareness-raising programme to help women, who have previously experienced abuse, spot the signs of abuse before they become entrapped in a violent relationship. We presume these parents wished for it to be adapted and used more widely as a preventative tool amongst children and young people. The Programme's website says:

54. Other parents raised concerns about violence against women and girls being included in educational materials, suggesting, for example, that children "are taught too many depressing things already" or that such education might "imply a criticism of their own family members".

55. We held an informal meeting with Women's Aid Young People's Advisory Panel. The young people who took part believed that such education should be included in the curriculum and that open discussion would help to break down the 'normalisation' of violence against women and girls at a young age and teach young women when and how to seek help (see Appendix 2). They also said that teachers were the adults that they needed to trust and be able to report things to, because it was unlikely that they would have one-to-one contact with health or other frontline professionals. One young person said that she had told a teacher about her home situation but that it had been the 'wrong teacher'. We believe that there should never be a 'wrong teacher' to disclose information to because they have a safeguarding role under child protection law and all teachers should be trained appropriately.

56. The Minister for Women outlined changes for the training and allocation of frontline social workers but did not outline any training being offered for school teachers on these issues.

57. The evidence we received strongly suggested that the teaching and discussion of these issues within schools is patchy. Some schools demonstrate excellent policies, others use charities to provide the teaching whilst others do nothing. This means that using education as a key tool to prevent violence against women is piecemeal and not all children are being reached. The End Violence Against Women Coalition said "The Department for Education, key to taking forward prevention measures, has yet to deliver on its role".[57]

58. We note that the teaching of these issues is complex: academies, free schools and independent schools are not overseen by Local Education Authorities and instead adhere to the Independent School Standards. The Government does, however, set the Independent School Standards. The Minister for Women told us that:

59. The PSHE Association, however, said: "PSHE education is a non-statutory subject which is not assessed in detail by Ofsted. This means that it is [not always] given a high priority by schools, and is often taught by teachers who are not trained in the subject. This low status of the subject means that it does not meet the high standards required for teaching about complex subjects such as gender-related violence."[59]

60. Responding to questions about how schools teach these issues and whether the Government was providing guidance, the Minister for Women said:

61. In giving evidence to the Commons Education Committee about what was included in the curriculum for PSHE, Mr Nick Gibb MP, Minister of State for School Reform, Department for Education, said:

62. Chris Green called for higher education establishments to play a more active role in promoting awareness around these issues:

63. The young people we spoke to from Women's Aid Young People's Advisory Panel, that were over 18 years old and attended university, told us about their experiences of the culture at university between men and women. One young person, who went to a university in Nottingham, described her freshers events as being characterised as sexist and sexual stereotypes were used for events or marketing. During her time at university, she also described that sexism was commonly disguised as 'banter' and was seen everywhere. Another young person talked about support services available for students who experience violence against women during their time at university, or who may need help coming to terms with things that happened to their family during childhood. She argued that universities had greatly increased provision for mental health services yet not for victims of domestic abuse. Another young person argued that universities weren't doing enough to support students who had been victims of gender based violence and it was not featuring on the agenda of the universities.

64. We are aware that some higher educational establishments are taking a proactive role in educating and raising awareness amongst their students, including collaborative working between Karma Nirvana and Derby College regarding forced marriage[63] and the introduction of mandatory workshops about consent in some colleges of Oxford and Cambridge.[64]

65. We acknowledge the work undertaken by some higher educational establishments to educate their students, but we are concerned at the responses to a survey conducted by the National Union of Students which show a lack of awareness amongst students of issues relating to violence against women and girls (see Appendix 3). 1,120 respondents from all over the UK responded to the survey. The survey indicated that 57% of male respondents and 49% of female respondents were aware of the law on consent. Respondents were more likely to be aware of where to get advice or help for a sexually transmitted infection (74% of women, 72% of men) and rape (54% of women, 51% of men) than FGM (17% women, 20% of men) or coercive marriage (14% of women, 20% of men). More than 50% of respondents had not heard of any of the Government's campaigns to raise awareness, indicating the limited reach these campaigns have.

66. The Department for Education has committed itself under the Action Plan to pursue a range of channels for making suitable materials available to schools on violence against women and girls and related safeguarding issues. The Minister for Women told us that the Government has also committed the PHSE Association to producing guidance on education about consent. We have not heard evidence that the Government is pursuing channels to make materials available to schools, and the guidance on consent has not yet been published. We consider that this must be published before the UK is deemed to be fulfilling its positive obligations under the Istanbul Convention. We recommend that guidance from the Department for Education should go further than just consent and include other issues relating to violence against women and girls—for example, FGM, forced marriage, sexual exploitation and access to helplines. All forms of violence against women and girls affect school-age children directly and personally and normalisation of violence against women and girls occurs at a young age.

67. As a matter of practice, we also consider that the UK would be in a stronger position to say that it is fulfilling the requirements of Article 14 of the Istanbul Convention if all schools were required broadly to teach the same curriculum in relation to PSHE and we believe that this national curriculum should include issues relating to violence against women and girls. We believe this would also give Ofsted clear standards by which to assess a school.

68. We also consider that higher education establishments, not student unions, should be responsible for reinforcing this education within the higher education system and therefore encourage these establishments to follow the lead of those that already have.

Training of professionals (Article 15)

69. Article 15 of the Istanbul Convention requires relevant professionals to receive adequate training. This is a policy and practice based requirement and crosses practically all departments of state, and also includes health professionals, social workers, teachers, job centre staff, the police and the justice system. In this chapter we focus on training provided for the judiciary. In Chapter 6 we look at the judiciary in more detail and training for the police and in Chapter 7 we look at training for immigration officials.

Article 15—Training of professionals

1 Parties shall provide or strengthen appropriate training for the relevant professionals dealing with victims or perpetrators of all acts of violence covered by the scope of this Convention, on the prevention and detection of such violence, equality between women and men, the needs and rights of victims, as well as on how to prevent secondary victimisation.

2 Parties shall encourage that the training referred to in paragraph 1 includes training on co-ordinated multi-agency co-operation to allow for a comprehensive and appropriate handling of referrals in cases of violence covered by the scope of this Convention.

HOW WELL IS THE UK FULFILLING THE POSITIVE OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION?

The judiciary

70. We heard that, whilst the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) are actively receiving training in the area of violence against women and girls, little was being offered (let alone made compulsory) for the judiciary. Vera Baird QC, Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria, and a former Solicitor General, said: "we have a highly male-dominated judiciary who frankly are not, as I understand it, trained in domestic violence and in my experience do not get it at all."[65] In England and Wales, the Judicial College offers a three-day programme which criminal judges must complete to hear rape cases. Sheridan Greenland OBE, Executive Director of the Judicial College told us: "there is no dedicated training or specific authorisation required for non-sexual offences of assault or violence. Crimes such as domestic abuse will feature within the normal continuation training available to Crown Court judges particularly as a sentencing exercise."[66]

71. Sheridan Greenland OBE said that training is offered for judges acting in civil cases:

72. We heard, however, that the judiciary did not always understand the most appropriate ways to deal with honour-based cases. Rachel Horman, Solicitor and Head, Domestic Violence and Forced Marriage Department at Watson Ramsbottom Solicitors, said "I have seen civil court cases adjourned for family mediation to take place to resolve it, which is very dangerous again and has been seen in a lot of the honour killings that have gone on".[68]

73. In response to questions about how the judiciary and police could better adhere to policies on violence against women and girls, the Minister for Crime Prevention said: "There are a series of improvements in criminal justice outcomes for VAWG. There are increased referrals to the CPS. There are increases in the volumes of prosecutions and convictions, and there are improvements in the conviction rate […] Basically, things are going in the right direction."[69]

74. We welcome the requirement for judges who hear rape cases to have been trained to do so but believe that there is scope for the judiciary to educate themselves further by establishing separate training for those who deal with cases involving domestic violence. Given that family law is dealt with in the civil courts and cases involving domestic violence are heard in magistrates' courts, this training should be available to both criminal and civil judges and magistrates.

Participation of the private sector and media (Article 17)

75. The positive obligations under Article 17 (participation of the private sector and media) of the Istanbul Convention are practice-based requirements rather than policy or legislative ones. Article 17 recognises the need for respect for freedom of expression and the independence of the press.

Article 17—Participation of the private sector and the media

1 Parties shall encourage the private sector, the information and communication technology sector and the media, with due respect for freedom of expression and their independence, to participate in the elaboration and implementation of policies and to set guidelines and self-regulatory standards to prevent violence against women and to enhance respect for their dignity.

2 Parties shall develop and promote, in co-operation with private sector actors, skills among children, parents and educators on how to deal with the information and communications environment that provides access to degrading content of a sexual or violent nature which might be harmful.

76. In looking at the regulation of the press in this chapter, we note that broadcasters are regulated by Ofcom which has statutory duties to regulate and can administer significant fines and other punitive measures.[70] Regulation of UK newspapers is currently uncertain. The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) is a self-regulatory body, which superseded the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), and upholds the Editors' Code of Practice. However, not all newspapers are members of IPSO. IPSO itself is not recognised under the recent Royal Charter for press regulation.

77. The Government's Action Plan committed the Government to working with media regulators and stakeholders "across industry to ensure that suitable media content protections are maintained".[71]

HOW WELL IS THE UK FULFILLING THE POSITIVE OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE ISTANBUL CONVENTION?

Responsible reporting v Freedom of the press and editorial independence

78. Jo Costello, from Ending Victimisation and Blame, said that newspapers are not always responsible in their reporting of crimes:

Telegraph

79. Charlotte Dewar, Director of Complaints and Pre-publication Services at IPSO, said that witnesses could sometimes be identified by a news story:

80. Jo Costello echoed these concerns:

81. Jo Costello also said that guidance and training for individual journalists was already published but there was a lack of sanction if they did not adhere to them:

82. Charlotte Dewar explained that IPSO would enforce the Editors' Code of Practice:

She also explained that: "the Press Complaints Commission upheld two complaints in the last couple of months of its time."[77]

83. Tony Close, Director of Content Standards, Licencing and Enforcement at Ofcom, told us how Ofcom assisted broadcasters in abiding by the Ofcom Broadcasting Code:

Tony Close, when asked whether Ofcom had ever removed a licence for this sort of issue or imposed a financial penalty, said Ofcom had not.[79]

84. We acknowledge the difficulty the Government has in this area in balancing freedom of the press with regulation. We also sympathise with the Government in trying to engage with publishers and broadcasters. We were greatly disappointed that our publicly funded national broadcaster, the BBC declined all invitations to give evidence to this inquiry.

85. In response to concerns regarding responsible reporting, the Minister for Women said "We are not going to tell people what they should and should not be reporting or how they should be editing".[80] She did, however, acknowledge that women putting together reports for broadcasters will often challenge gender stereotypes in a way that male reporters may not: "I do not want to generalise, but it is very important that we have women in front-line media positions and making editorial decisions."[81]

86. The Istanbul Convention invites the media to self-regulate to help prevent violence against women and girls. Whilst current regulatory standards may be appropriate, there are clear examples where reporting of such violence has not been sensitive or appropriate. Practice is falling short. We encourage editors to take a proactive approach to educating their teams about sensitively reporting violence against women and girls.

87. We recommend that regulators have the confidence to use their powers to sanction, where necessary, broadcasters or press who have fallen short of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code or the Editors' Code of Practice.

Assistance to victims in making complaints

88. Jo Costello, from Ending Victimisation and Blame, told us: "One thing that is difficult for our supporters is knowing where to make a complaint in the first place".[82] This was particularly the case for newspapers as there is currently no single regulator.

89. Charlotte Dewar, Director of Complaints and Pre-publication Services at IPSO, told us about the proactive role that IPSO play in supporting victims:

90. Charlotte Dewar also told us about pre-publication services offered by IPSO as well as the ability of complaints to be taken forward even if the victim did not make the complaint:

Jo Costello called for assistance for victims to be more formalised.[85]

91. There are currently a number of different media or press regulators. It is not easy currently for victims to understand their rights and the correct routes for redress. We recommend that community liaison officers[86] be trained in this work so that they can explain these rights where necessary.

The portrayal of women in the media

92. In 2013, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in its concluding observations on the seventh periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, recommended that the UK: "Continue to engage with the media to eliminate stereotypical imaging of women and their objectification in the media, particularly in advertising."[87]

93. The Government's Action Plan said that the Government had completed the following action: "Ensure media literacy tools are available to help people challenge body images and gender stereotyping in the media."[88] The Government's Action Plan commits the Gender and Equalities Office to the following action by 2014-15:

94. Witnesses, however, were concerned that the media objectified women and Caroline Lucas MP said in her written evidence to us: "there is evidence that suggests a clear link between consumption of sexualised images, a tendency to view women as objects and the acceptance of aggressive attitudes and behaviour as the norm".[90] She also raised concern that "images that would be prohibited on television or subject to the watershed […] are sold entirely without age restriction in shops, often at child's eye level."[91]

95. UK Feminista said: "There is extensive research evidencing the very harmful impact both of treating women as sex objects and portraying them as sex objects in the media. In relation to the portrayal of women in the media, the American Psychological Association (APA) report that viewing media which portrays women as sex objects leads people to become significantly more accepting of gender stereotyping, sexual harassment, interpersonal violence, and rape myths. The APA also reveal that men are more likely to treat women as sex objects and their behaviour towards women is more sexualised after exposure to sexualised media."[92]

96. Peter Grant, Co-Director of Restored, said: "the attitudes in society are probably moving in the wrong direction in terms of our popular culture, in terms of the objectification of women, in terms of the seeping of pornography into popular culture."[93]

97. JAN Trust argued for 'lads mags' to be covered up in shops. They acknowledged the right to freedom of expression but argued:

98. With reference to what the Government was doing to address these concerns, the Minister for Women said:

99. We commend the supermarket chains, Tesco and Waitrose, for responding to a campaign to remove the images and headlines from certain newspapers from the eye-line of children and call on others to follow this lead.[96]We also commend the Government for taking action to encourage the private sector to undertake initiatives to help promote positive role models for girls—for example, the body confidence campaign.

31 A Call to End Violence against Women and Girls, Action Plan 2014: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/287758/VAWG_Action_Plan.pdf [accessed 24 December 2014] Back

32 New domestic abuse campaign launched: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-domestic-abuse-campaign-launched [accessed 2 January 2015] Back

33 We need to drop Delilah song for being too violent, says singer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-30432645 [accessed 4 January 2015]

Women's Aid England and Wales issue statement on 'Delilah': http://www.womensaid.org.uk/domestic-violence-press-information.asp?itemid=3360&itemTitle=Women's+Aid+England+and+Wales+issue+statement+on+'Delilah'&section=0001000100150001&sectionTitle=Press+releases [accessed 9 January 2015] Back

34 Violence against women and girls (VAWG) newsletter, Summer Edition 2014: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/342982/VAWG_newsletter_Issue_8_v6__2_.pdf [accessed 2 January 2015] Back

35 David Gadd, Claire L. Fox, Mary-Louise Corr, Ian Butler and Joanna Bragg: From boys to men: overview and recommendations Back

36 Q 21 Back

37 Q 54 Back

38 Q 53 Back

39 Written evidence from End Violence Against Women Coalition (VAW0053) Back

40 Written evidence from JAN Trust (VAW0019) Back

41 Written evidence from the Bar Human Rights Committee of England (VAW0035) Back