Taking back the streets: 5,000 march in Glasgow against rape and sexual abuse
The stroke of midnight on June 9th saw almost 5,000 people take to the streets of South Glasgow to demand an end to the surge in sexual attacks in the city over the last few months.
The massive “These streets are made for walking” demonstration came about following a spate of rapes in the city over last few months leaving a lot of women feeling frightened to go out at night. It started at Queen’s Park and circled around the area where a 24 year old woman was raped last month.
Two young women, Ashley Crossan and Amanda Johnston, organised the walk because they were:
“tired of harassment, and the fear of assault being a part of our daily lives, simply because we are female. We are tired of being told when we can and cannot walk around our own neighbourhoods as a “preventative measure”…. Well, what we’re suggesting is that we stop putting the onus on the victim and what they can do to be ‘responsible’ re. their own safety, and instead focus the blame right where it should be: on the rapist. Well, what we’re suggesting is that we stop putting the onus on the victim and what they can do to be ‘responsible’ re their own safety, and instead focus the blame right where it should be: on the rapist.”
They also explained that:
“This walk is then both a show of solidarity, in support of the victims of rape, and a call to action; to encourage more police presence and support in this area and to make sure that these kind of attacks on our mothers/sisters/daughters/spouse (and indeed fathers/brothers/sons) never happen.”
Their feelings of anger and desire to do something about it struck a core with thousands of people in their area. It was an extraordinary demonstration, with the young and the old, women and men (with several pet dogs thrown in for good measure) coming together to oppose violence against women.
The Socialist Party Scotland attended and intervened in the protest. We were the only visible political force on the march – we gave out hundreds of leaflets arguing for increased provision of services and ideas of how to take this movement forward – in people were literally grabbing them off us and asking for more! This hunger for ideas, in our view, reflects a desire among people to find out more about the issues and crucially there was an understanding that more can and must be done.
Rape in Scotland
In 2012/13, 1372 rapes, 90 attempted rapes and 7,693 sexual offices were reported to the police in Scotland. This represents a 16% rise compared to the previous year!
Not enough is known about why there has been such an increase – the recent high profile cases may have given more women confidence to report – however, much more interrogation of the figures needs to be done before we can be sure.
What is clear however, is that these figures are just the tip of the iceberg. Rape and sexual abuse remains a massively underreported crime. In 2010/11 3% of adults had experienced at least one form of serious sexual assault since the age of 16. This included 5% of women experiencing at least one form of serious sexual assault and 1% of men. (2010-11 Scottish Crime and Justice Survey: Sexual Victimisation and Stalking)
Whilst the recent rapes and sexual assaults appeared to have been committed by a stranger, most people are raped and / or sexually abused by someone they know. More than half (52%) of adults who had experienced serious sexual assault since the age of 16 were assaulted by their partner. 95% said the offenders were male and 5% said the offenders were female.
Childhood sexual abuse
Childhood Sexual Abuse remains a large and serious problem within our society. The NSPCC estimate that 1 in 20 children have been sexually abused, of those children 90% were abused by someone they knew.
The recent high profile cases of actors and celebrities such as William Roach, Ian Watkins, Jimmy Saville ,Stuart Hall, Ralph Harris, Michael Souter, Paul Gambaccini, Clifford Luton and some others demonstrate not just how wide spread an issue it is but also how difficult it has and continues to be for survivors of rape, sexual abuse and childhood sexual abuse to come forward.
One of the main reasons for this is the fear of not being believed and the amount of victim blaming, even with young girls, that exists within society. Rape Crisis Scotland reported that less than a fifth of survivors in touch with rape crisis centres have reported their experiences to the police.
Victim blaming
Focus on what women wear, the amount they drank and their behaviours or sexual history all receive far more attention than the actions and behaviours of the perpetrators.
A System 3 poll conducted in Scotland in 2008 made for some disturbed reading:
- 24% think a woman can be at least partly responsible if she is drunk at the time of the attack
- 27% thought that a woman bore some responsibility if she wore revealing clothing
- 29% say there should be some burden of responsibility for rape if the woman is flirting
- 15% think rape can be the woman’s fault if she is known to have had many sexual partners
Such views are inevitably reflected in our judicial system, for which there is still a criminally low conviction rate – just 7% in Scotland for reported incidents of rape.
A recent case in England of a 13 year old girl who had experienced sexual abuse at the hands of an adult caused revulsion and outrage at the attitudes of the judiciary. The judge described the 13-year-old as a “sexual predator” and let a 41-year-old paedophile, Neil Wilson walk free from court, with a suspended sentence!
Even more shocking was the comments from the QC for the Crown Prosecution Service, Robert Colover, “The girl is predatory in all her actions and she is sexually experienced.” Rightly this case is being reviewed.
Supporting survivors
How a survivor of rape and sexual abuse is supported in the immediate or longer term aftermath can be crucial for them to not just get access to justice but to be able to recover from their experiences and rebuild their lives.
It is absolutely vital that support services for survivors of rape and sexual abuse are provided with funding to provide the necessary support. Unfortunately most Rape Crisis Centres are very underfunded and are literally surviving from one year to the next.
Whilst at the same time there has been a sharp rise in demands for support services, with Glasgow Rape Crisis Centre’s reporting a 50% increase in its helpline calls over the last two years, and Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre in Dundee have reported a 79% increase in demands for support over the last 3 years. In fact just a few months ago the press reported that Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre were on the verge of closing due to funding streams ending. This can’t continue!
Growing protests
The protest in Glasgow demonstrated vividly the increasing determination of women and men to challenge gender based violence. Last year the rape and murder of a young student in India provoked mass demonstrations not just across India but the world.
The development of the Slutwalk, the 1 Billion Rising movements and campaigns within many universities challenging rape culture show the in-creasing confidence and willingness of women to take up these important issues.
More needs to be done, not just in challenging sexism rape, sexual and domestic abuse, but in fighting to defend key services. With the growing attacks on jobs and services, these vital services will come under increasing pressure to survive. We will continue to challenge sexism and the growing rape culture, but will ensure that we link these struggles to the trade union and community campaigns fighting austerity and defending jobs and services
Socialist Party Scotland demands:
- An end to victim blaming.For a programme of education in schools, colleges, universities, workplaces and the trade unions about the myths and facts of rape and domestic abuse
- No closures or cuts to Violence Against Women services. Fight for an increase in funding to help women affected.
- Reverse the cuts to legal aid. Free acess to legal advice andrepresentation for women.
