End Violence Against Women

The 25th of November marks the start of the annual international 16 days of activism in opposition to violence against women.  In two articles Sinead Daly examines the scale of violence against women – and what needs to be done to challenge and end this nightmare that affects 1 in every 5 women in Scotland.

Every 10 seconds there is an incident of domestic abuse recorded by the police in Scotland – 82% of cases involve female victims and male perpetrators. This shocking statistic is a harsh and depressing reminder that despite the strides forward that have taken place over the last 20 years, domestic and sexual violence remains a fact of life for many, many women.

There are loads of statistics that can be rhymed off about the scale of Violence Against Women in Scotland:
These shocking figures can only shine a little light on the horrendous reality of living with domestic abuse on a day-to-day basis or of the trauma and hurt that sexual violence has on women.   Apart from the obvious impact on women’s mental and physical health, women with experience of domestic abuse depend heavily on the public sector to provide support for them at these times.

Sylvia (her name has been changed to protect her identity) spoke about her experiences of domestic abuse she experienced over years. One incident really stuck out for her “I was pushed against a concrete wall, and I actually was knocked out.  He pushed me by about 7 feet onto a concrete wall and I was knocked out.  And all my head… the blood was just unbelievable, and an ambulance had to come … and I had to get all my head stapled together.  I mean the scar still really itches.”  On another occasion he repeatedly punched and kicked her in the stomach while she was pregnant…she lost the baby.

Sylvia who has young children suffered with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and although she has managed to get away from her abuser a few years ago, she still has regular panic and anxiety attacks, has an eating disorder and has found it a real battle to recover from her experiences “you still feel like…you’re suffering a bit of domestic abuse and domestic violence…because you have all of these illnesses that you take away with you…and it’s just really sad… and it’s not right!”

Sylvia, however, is very much a survivor – she has got away from her abuser and is on the road to recovering from her experiences of domestic abuse.  Believe it or not, Sylvia is ‘lucky’ because she managed to secure refuge accommodation, support from Women’s Aid, other women however, have not been so ‘lucky’.  

On September 20th 2011, Women’s Aid groups in Scotland (organisations who provide support and refuge accommodation to women, children and young people with experience of domestic abuse) provided support to 1,267 women children and young people.  On that day, one third of women who needed to leave flee their homes and get refuge accommodation were turned away due to lack of space.

Every year thousands of women and children leave their homes, their friends and family, their job, their school with perhaps a few black bags with their belongings and go into refuge and homeless accommodation and wait to be re-housed.  

Of course, once you get your home then you’ve got to furnish it. If you’ve been forced to leave your belongings behind – your bed, fridge, cooker, washing machine, your carpets, TV, kids toys etc – then it’s a very expensive time. You may get a ridiculously small grant or loan from the benefits agency or fall prey to the loan companies with criminal interest rates.

The main worries that women have about leaving abusive relationships are where will I live, how will I survive financially, will I be safe, how will my children cope and what if he finds me?  Not to mention concerns about their ability to recover from the impact of sustained abuse on their physical and mental health.

Where do women go to get this support?  The job centre, their local authority for housing or social services, specialists services, the police and so on.  

lifeline

These services that provide a real lifeline for women need to ensure they can gain access to justice or be protected which are the very services which are under attack and paying the price of bailing out this defunct, corrupt and unjust economic system.

While in Scotland we have not seen the level of cut backs to violence against women’s services as in England and Wales, the current budgets that have been announced will no doubt impact on essential support services for women, like Rape Crisis and Women’s Aid.

But as socialists we need to go further, we need provide an explanation about why women continue to experience low pay, domestic abuse and sexual violence. Socialist Party Scotland  understand that the additional oppression that women face is firmly rooted in this profit driven system, which can only survive on the basis of gross inequality including the gender oppression faced by women.

We fight and struggle for a democratic socialist society.  A society that meets the needs and aspirations of the 99%. Which can provide all with a decent living wage, free education, a home and access to good quality social provision. It is only on this basis will women and men begin to be totally free and personal relationships can be truly equal.

• There were almost 52,000 incidents of domestic abuse in Scotland last year
  3 million women in the UK have experienced domestic or sexual abuse in the previous 12 months
  2 women are killed every week at the hands of their partner or ex-partners in the UK
  78-86% of stalking victims are women
  There were 6509 reported sex crimes in 2010/11, including rape, attempted rape and sexual assault
  Only 7% of all reported rapes in Scotland resulted in a conviction
  26% of Scots surveyed blamed the woman’s behavior as contributing towards the abuse

Stop the strip

While the public sector and women’s organisations are paying the price for the banking crisis, others are making huge profits off the back of it. Companies like Greene King Plc have seen their profits increase by 14% in the last year…mainly through turning their pubs into main street lap dancing clubs.

With unemployment rocketing in Scotland by 20%, cuts to wages and miserly student grants many women feel they have little option but to work in these clubs.  Indeed 60% of lap dancers in Edinburgh are students working there to pay there way through university.  

Even Murdoch’s Sun newspaper has dubbed the recent recession a “sexcession” because of the increasing numbers of women moving into the sex industry.  

This was in an article where they interviewed 4 women, all who had recently been made redundant, and who couldn’t find any other work so felt they had no choice but to work in different sectors of the sex industry.  Of course, The Sun were trying to portray this in a positive light, however, 3 of the 4 women said they would not have chosen to go into the industry but did so because they just couldn’t get a job.

lap dancing

In Dundee Socialist Party Scotland have been campaigning against the opening of another lap dancing club in the city centre.  We have opposed the view of the owner Jimmy Marr that it is nothing more than a bit of harmless fun.  

In fact the reality of these establishments is quite the opposite.  In Camden Town, London, in the year following the opening of 3 new lap dancing clubs in 2003 reported rapes increased by 30% and sexual assaults rocketed by 57%, all attacks took place in the surrounding areas.

Working conditions are also horrendous for most.  You don’t get a wage rather you have to pay the owners for the privilege of working there.  Some nights you can end up owing them money.  

There is huge pressure on the workers there to ‘go the extra mile’ to keep the punters happy.  50% of men in Glasgow who went to these clubs said they went for the purpose of having sex, 25% said they did have sex with the dancers.

In the pursuit of ever increasing profit margins big business have put a lot of energy into trying to soften people’s attitudes to porn and sexual exploitation of women.  You just have to open an Argos catalogue or go into a toyshop to see all of the Playboy images that are for sale – all aimed at young children.  

Easier access to the Internet, sex telephone lines and the expansion of lap dancing clubs has expanded big businesses opportunity to profit from the sexual exploitation of women.  A One Poll survey revealed that men spend £4.2 billion a year in the UK on strippers, adult websites, downloads and prostitutes.  
It is clear that the gains that women have made through struggle are all under attack.  

It’s crucial that the trade union movement together with women’s organisations, the youth and local communities link up the struggles against domestic and sexual violence with the campaigns against the cuts and also the trade union struggles to defend jobs in public services and protect funding for these vital services.