A gender racist at work who spews forth the rubbish of "End Violence against Women coalition", it would not matter if it was just another feminazi sympathiser but this is Trevor Phillips the Chairman Equality and Human Human Rights Commision, who appears to lack the basic princibles of the dynamics of Domestic violence ie it is both men and women who commit DV. Even the NSPCC has admitted abuse is meated out in almost equal amounts by men and women. The cycle of domestic violence will never end with policys controlled by the likes of Trevor.


http://www.newstatesman.com/200803240001
An undeclared war on women
Trevor Phillips

Published 24 March 2008

2 comments Print version Listen RSS Alarming levels of violence
against women continue to undermine real progress towards gender
equality


Our world has changed beyond recognition in the last fifty years.
Now, we would raise a smile at the line "Don't ask him questions
about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he
is the master of the house.. " from a recently republished 1950s Good
Wife Guide. So what would a baby girl born today expect from her
life? She may buy a house securing a mortgage without a male
guarantor, almost certainly return to work after starting a family.
She would expect equal treatment in her job and more broadly in her
life.

However before we congratulate ourselves on the new freedoms for
women in modern Britain there is a darker side to this debate.
Statistics on the number of women experiencing violence paint an
altogether more frightening picture. Each year some three million
women will experience violence in one form or another: rape, or the
threat of it; assault; intimidation through stalking; sexual abuse,
either by a member of their own family or someone they know; genital
mutilation and forced marriage.

While we have seen some significant changes to society's view of
women it seems some attitudes are taking longer to change. There is
evidence of an undeclared war against some women. A previous survey
by the End Violence against Women coalition showed that 42 percent of
young people know girls whose boyfriends have hit them. A remarkable
40 percent knew girls who had been pressurised into sex; yet 27
percent thought it was acceptable for a boy to "expect to have sex
with a girl if the girl had been "very flirtatious".

Clearly, we need to do more about the attitude to girls shown by many
boys. We need to boost the self-esteem of girls in the way being
promoted by organisations such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.
We need to avoid any public attitudes that suggest that some kinds of
assault or rape are somehow more forgivable than others. Rape is
rape; violence is violence and no means no. The law must reflect that
and be fully enforced.

Sadly these attitudes are only part of the problem. A survey, Map of
Gaps, published in November by the Commission in partnership with the
End Violence against Women coalition exposed a worrying lack of
services. In fact most women in the UK have no access to a Rape
Crisis Centre and less than one quarter of local authorities have any
sexual violence services at all. The services that do exist at all
are buckling under the pressure with help lines engaged and refuges
full. In short, what we have is a postcode lottery. But the thing
about lotteries is that most people lose. This is why the Commission
is calling on the Government and local authorities to take more
action and consider more funding for specialised support services.

So while in 2008 no one would believe a wife has "no right to
question" and women's employment rights are seen as essential, we
mustn't forget that women also have a basic right to seek support and
protection from violence. It is here that the Commission has a role
to play, as the regulator of public bodies in respect of their
equality duties.

That is why I am putting every public authority, that is, local
councils, police authorities and others - on notice. In nine months'
time we will be asking public authorities where they stand. If they
don't measure up, they can expect to be named publicly. If they don't
act, they will see us at their doors with compliance notices. Our
world may have changed beyond recognition but there are still many
important battles to be fought. And won.

Trevor Phillips is chairman of the Equality and Human Rights
Commission.

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knave
24 March 2008 at 21:05
Good article but I feel that women have always been physically
attacked even in the golden ages of the 1950's.

Thankfully women, especially working class women, feel more empowered
to face and report abuse than they did in the past.

There is also the abuse that dare not speak it's name. The abuse on
males by some females.

HECUBA
25 March 2008 at 10:31
Yes indeed men's violence against women is global and has existed for
centuries but this does not mean we should accept the situation. As
regards the fact some women do commit abuse against women, research
shows it is overwhelmingly male sexual and physical violence against
women which is far more widespread and endemic.


The constant claims that men experience the same level of violence
from women is a tactic designed to deflect attention away from the
realities of male violence against women.gaynorbarry
veteran contributor