Is Surrey Safe For Women?

This was the title of the Soroptimist International conference I spoke at ( all the other 8 presenters were women)

Prof Sue Edwards talked about the awful consequences for survivors of the delays in the legal process , and said for some the delays cause as much trauma as the man’s attack itself.

She also talked about the massive attrition rates between a report and a conviction

I was shocked to learn that in just 6 months there were 22,000 coercive control and 8,400 reports of non fatal strangulation.

Sarah Mullin latterly Chair of Respect talked of the number of perpetrators , estimated to be around 2.3 million, which made me respond later that there should be 26 million male allies out there , and where are they ?

Gill Kirkman from Bradford University and Not One in Three, demonstrated the computer game Danielle, which has been developed so that people can respond to how Danielle and her partner would behave as their relationship changes . It’s worth looking at-

I said Mens Violence will only stop when men take responsibility for changing the patriarchal culture and when we see Mens Violence roe what it is -Terrorism and fund VAWG prevention campaigns at the same level as other anti terrorist prevention work.

There was a lot of interest in the MACS stand and people took away lots of postcards .I hope and expect there will be lots of requests for us to do sone engagement work with other groups .

Huge thanks to Soroptimists International who continue to put challenging mens violence and women’s empowerment and support at the forefront of their work