Motion concerning Violence against Women and Girls – full motion in Agenda Pack

Proposed by: Councillor Hannah Perkin

Seconded by: Councillor Corrie Woodford

Amendments added to website 28.March 2022.

In introducing the motion, Councillor Hannah Perkin referred to the amendment proposed by Councillor Lloyd Bowen and seconded by Councillor Oliver Eakin as tabled and published on the Council’s website. Councillor Perkin sought Council’s agreement to include the amendment as an alteration to her original motion.  On being put to the vote, Members agreed. 

In proposing the altered motion, Councillor Perkin spoke about the high-profile murders of Sarah Everard and PCSO Julia James, in the summer of 2021 and said that since that time, a further 125 women had been killed, an average of approximately two per week, as a direct result of violence by men.  She said that each year Jess Philipp MP read out in Parliament the names of women that had been killed in the previous year, and the figure had increased by 10 more victims this year than on the previous year. Councillor Perkin said there were 618,000 sexual assaults or attempted sexual assaults on woman by men in England and Wales in 2020.

Councillor Perkin said she had carried out a survey of women in Faversham in relation to their safety and highlighted that less than 50% of women said they felt safe in Faversham at night, and she read-out some of the responses from women who had explained how they changed their behaviour to keep themselves safe.

Councillor Perkin thanked Councillors Richard Palmer and Elliott Jayes, along with the Community Safety Unit for the work they had been doing alongside Kent Police.  She also thanked Councillor Corrie Woodford for her work on the motion and thanked the Economy and Community Services Manager, and SATEDA.

Councillor Perkin recognised that men and boys could also be subject to violence and also deserved access to services to assist. She offered her support to any Councillor that brought a motion to the Council that highlighted this subject.

Councillor Perkin quoted her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Zoe Billingham, who last year highlighted the serious issue of violence against women and girls and said that urgent action to address the issue was necessary with all agencies working together.

In seconding the motion Councillor Woodford spoke of her experiences as a teacher, in supporting students at schools.  She gave national statistics of the number of girls that had experienced unwanted sexual touching and harassment in schools and detailed that 600 rapes in schools had been reported to Police between 2012 and 2016.  Councillor Woodford gave further statistics of pupils and young women who had received inappropriate content and threats online.  She referred to the Department of Education’s Ofsted report on sexual abuse in schools and colleges in 2021, which found that almost all girls in schools had experienced at least one form of abuse, and she spoke about the report’s findings on how prevalent online abuse was in young people.

Councillor Woodford said that violence against women and girls was part of what was stopping women achieving equality and forced them into making choices about what was and was not safe for them to do.  Finally, she said that working together was key, beginning with working with schools.

Councillor Alan Horton sought agreement from Council for his amendment to be withdrawn.  On being put to the vote, Members agreed.

In the debate that followed, Members raised points including:

·         Explanation on the reasons for the amendment, stressed how powerful words were in both a positive and negative way, and supported the transparent, clear and understandable motion in its amended form;

·         the motion allowed Swale Borough Council (SBC)  to stand-up for this and other causes where appropriate;

·         the motion reaffirmed SBC’s support for the White Ribbon Campaign;

·         praised Councillors Perkin and Woodford for the motion and for working together with other groups in agreeing the amendment;

·         referred to the contents of the Ofsted report and the safeguarding changes due in September 2022 and the seriousness of the issues;

·         to do nothing when witnessing violent behaviour was to condone;

·         full support for motion and, should have come to Council sooner;

·         violence against women and girls was unacceptable in any form;

·         Members should challenge unacceptable behaviour;

·         there needed to be a cultural change from a young age; and

·         Members should carry-out their own due diligence on organisations and act if safeguarding and protection was not appropriate.

In summing-up, Councillor Perkin thanked Members for their support and sharing their experiences.  She said that the inappropriate behaviour of some youngsters in normalising violence against women and girls was problematic.  Councillor Perkin was supportive of the Government’s ‘Enough’ campaign and the ‘White Ribbon’ campaign.  She said that there needed to be a culture change and urged all Members to support the motion.

On being put to the vote, Members unanimously agreed the motion.

Resolved:

(1)  That Council notes:  

• That the murder of Sarah Everard, just over 1 year ago, launched a wave of anger and protests across the country.  

• That according to national crime statistics in the UK, on average one woman is killed by a man every three days.  

• The ONS reported that in 2020 alone 618,000 women were victims of a sexual assault or an attempted sexual assault by a man.  

Street harassment and violence against women and girls is endemic in the UK:  

• 80% of women of all ages have been sexually harassed in public, with 90% of these women not reporting it as they don’t believe it will make a difference  

• One in two women are sexually harassed in the workplace  

• One in three women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime  

• One in five women will be raped in their lifetime  

• Two women a week are killed by a current or former partner (this rose to three a week during lockdown), and three women a week take their own lives following domestic abuse.  

• Women who report rape have a 3% chance of the report ending in conviction. Most women who survive domestic violence do not receive justice from the criminal justice system.  

• That transphobia has become more commonplace under the cover of ‘protecting women’s spaces’.  

• Swale Borough Council, on behalf of the Swale Community Safety Partnership, is a White Ribbon Borough meaning we're committed to leading by example and taking the White Ribbon pledge – to never excuse, commit or remain silent about male violence against women.  

(2)  That Council believes:  

• That transphobia, homophobia, misogyny and all forms of hate crime have no place in modern society.  

• That male violence against women and girls is part of a broader culture of misogyny in society.  

• Perpetrators of serious violence usually have a history of inflicting abuse and harassment against other women and girls. Tackling violence against women and girls means dismantling this culture. 

• The seeds of violent behaviour are often sown at a young age and if the right interventions are not made in time, the problem continues to perpetuate.  

(3)  That Council resolves to:  

• condemn violence of any kind against women and children or related to transphobia, homophobia, misogyny and hate crime. 

• Commends work by the Community safety Unit and Kent Police as they look to the eradication of violence against women and girls.  

• Commits to the delivery of the Violence Against Women and Girls action plan, that forms part of the Swale Community Safety Plan, delivered jointly with key partner agencies. 

• Seek to develop work with schools and youth providers to educate and empower girls and young women regarding healthy relationships and safety  

• Continue to work to ensure appropriate provision is in place for perpetrators of violence against women and girls to seek to change their behaviour  

• Support Kent Police with delivery of their Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy  

• Do all we can as a council and in our communities to champion the rights and entitlements of women and girls and to tackle violence against them. This includes continuing to invest in vital services, listening and responding to women and girls about the action we need, and calling out misogyny and sexism wherever we see and hear it.  

• To support those providing services in Swale to deliver culturally competent services for VAWG which fully serve our diverse population.  

• To continue to commit to the white ribbon pledge and to promote schemes that aim to educate men through campaigns that empower male “allies”.  

• Work with our partners in the LGBTQ Community and Stop Hate UK to produce a Transphobia Hate Crime awareness plan  

• Promote the Police “community voice” platform for reporting concerns 

• Reaffirm our commitment to the ‘White Ribbon’ campaign.

(4)  That Council ask the Leader to write to the Home Secretary to ask that:  

• There is an urgent Royal Commission into male violence against women 

• For public sexual harassment to be made a crime, as was originally indicated in the Home Office Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) consultation. 

• Increase investment in victims’ services including in particular, refuges, mental health services and legal aid support for all victims of male violence.