challenging institutional disbelief around domestic & sexual violence and abuse
Hello, it’s Maya. I’m not sure whether you will remember me since my other postings on the site. I just want to say a bit about blame. It is probably not that coherent, because my hyper-vigilance is through the roof and I cannot concentrate. I wish it was as simple as ‘staying away’ from abusive more »
The Cause and Never The Cure. The Times Attacks Our Girls. Before Vince Cable was revealed as a shifty double dealing poll agitator – or whatever – and the media began baying for the blood of Clegg. The leading headline in The Times was this…. “British Girls Have Become The Fattest In Europe” And it more »
We hosted an open access training day in Nottingham on May 14th – we combined Sexual Violence Services, Youth Offending Teams, NHS staff and women who were looking to expand their skills in the Violence Against Women sector and had 15 attendees in total. We asked our participants to be really honest when completing their more »
For many people, victim blaming is not a conscious decision, and often they are unaware of language choices. Attempts to challenge these comments, though necessary, often result in defensive responses that create additional barriers rather than receptiveness to our work. Why do people react so negatively to challenge? Often it’s because the person speaking doesn’t more »
To whom it may concern, I wanted to make a complaint regarding the reporting of the UCSB shooting on Saturday 24th May, being reported on BBC Breakfast on Sunday 25th May 2014. I was very angry and disappointed that BBC Breakfast chose to report on this tragic case in a very irresponsible manner, entirely erasing more »
I have wanted to write for a year now, about my experience with violence in a relationship. I feel sick every time I write a few words, so apologies if this is not written eloquently. I tried to keep a diary about my progress a while ago but I found it too painful to keep more »
“Last week saw the publication of new legal guidance by the CPS on prosecuting Domestic Homicide. An important step, brought about by extensive discussions with us, the family and friends of Joanna Simpson who was killed by her estranged husband in 2010. Despite preparing a grave beforehand, her killer could be acquitted of murder due more »
Whenever a male celebrity is in the media because the CJS are pursuing allegations of his abuse and violence against women and children, I momentarily stop. And wait. I am not sure what I am waiting for, I don’t dare to believe that those accused of male violence be will be found guilty in a more »
Recently an article was published on the BBC news website called Domestic Violence: One month’s death toll by Alex Morrison. It used the recent conviction of David Gikawa, who murdered Linah Keza last year, to ask how commonplace such crimes actually are. So far, so good. Domestic violence is a huge issue and it is more »
Hopefully, you will not have to experience domestic abuse within your life although current statistics show that 1 in 4 women (womansaid.org) and a growing number of men (mankind.org) will be a victim of domestic violence/abuse in their lifetime so the probability of you personally knowing someone who experiences it (even if you don’t realise more »