Urgent! APPG on Hate Speech/Crime Submit up to 2500 word by Weds 15th August

Sent at 5 to 8 . It was a bit rushed towards the end but they were locking up the office and I needed to leave. I also included the latest Rape Crisis stats, which make for depressing reading. In my haste I forgot to include our favourite children's convener.

I also just sent it. Hope the close is midnight tonight, not 5pm.

Just finished, phew!!

Good luck BingBong!

I'm still writing mine, so I hope it's not 5pm! Should be finished before 8pm tonight.

Anyone know what the time deadline is for this?

Is it 5pm or midnight perhaps?

Bump

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b u m p

Bump again.

Bump - the deadline is tomorrow.

That sounds really good BingBongSong!

Thanks, Microcarrots. I'll have a think about it and use some recent examples that have been in the press. Might mention my conversations with our MP and his team which have been dismissive of my concerns re. the erosion of women's rights. Might also mention Maria Mac, the blockading of the stairwell in Bristol and the bomb threat.

Hi BingBongSong, Great that’s you’re up for writing. Unfortunately, I think they may discredit copy and paste documents.

I think they’re inclined to take more notice of 10 original lines of text than repeated content.

The best thing to do if you’re short of time is just take one of their questions and answer it, paraphrasing from either mine or someone else’s but getting something new in if possible.

You could just take one aspect that effects women that would benefit from a change in the law to recognise misogyny as a hate crime. It doesn’t necessarily need to have effected you personally. Could be FGM, could be the levels of death women face at the hands of partners / ex partners, could be levels of sexual violence against girls in school.

Thanks Carrots and SexMatters.

Would it be ok to copy and paste most of the responses? Personally I have not been subjected to more than the "usual" amount of misogyny and I don't think I could write anything about my own experience which would be very impactful.

What role can community organisations, charities and others play to increase community cohesion in the face of rising hate crime and hate speech?

♣ Protecting women’s existing legal rights and allowing them to meet in safety without violence and intimidation from men who wish to silence women. Listening and believing women when crimes are reported. Allowing women to have a voice in legislation that is being drawn up and will impact them.

Are there projects that help individuals to support their emotional, mental health and practical needs when they are targeted online and offline?

♣ Women’s Aid, Women’s Trust, Refuge and many other domestic violence support groups specifically for women are excellent but underfunded by the state.
♣ Mumsnet offer a safe space for women to speak to each other and provide support and healing.

What role do police forces play in increasing community cohesion in the face of rising hate crime and hate speech? Are there practical examples of their work, say after major terrorist attacks when cohesion may be affected?

♣ While police are doing a brilliant job in tough circumstances, they need to be trained to understand that they have their own biases against women as they have already been shown to have against people of colour and minority religions in the UK. They need to be trained to approach reports of crimes fairly against women, e.g. rape should not be assumed to be the woman’s fault (e.g., what were you wearing, why were you out without a boyfriend etc.) Please see the recent UK gang rape case against a very young woman where the older men escaped any punishment. www.independent.co.uk/voices/northern-ireland-ulster-rugby-rape-trial-not-guilty-im-with-her-a8280066.html

What can national and local government do to increase community cohesion in the face of rising hate crime and hate speech?

♣ Nationwide misogyny hate crime reporting would send a clear message to society that to harass, intimidate and threaten women and girls is not acceptable, either morally or legally. It would provide a clear framework for prosecuting crime that has been committed against women on the basis of their sex. It would simplify the legal system and make the jobs of police officers and judges easier, thus saving money for the state as well as protecting women.
♣ Since Nottingham police included misogyny as a hate crime in April 2016, women have reported feeling safer and men have reported that they have challenged their own behaviour towards women.
♣ Educational programs that target sexist and misogynistic attitudes to women should be reinforced and expanded upon in schools and workplaces.
♣ Women need to have their single sex spaces protected. Women need protection from men because as a group they are generally physically smaller and weaker than men. The violence in society is overwhelmingly committed by men and overwhelmingly perpetrated against women. These spaces protect women from male violence in prisons, domestic violence shelters as well as being safe in public parks etc. by using female only toilets and changing rooms. Also, sex segregated activities such as swimming pools / gyms allow women of faith from Muslim and Jewish and other faiths to participate fully in public life.
♣ The definition of what a woman is needs to be protected. Men who identify as women should be given their own separate set of legal protections but women’s rights should remain for women, not for both men and women. The crime statistics for men who identify as women remain exactly the same as for men who identify as men. They remain a threat to women in the same way that men as a group are. journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0016885

Recommendations – What can we do to build community cohesion?

Best practice: What schemes, initiatives and projects exist to build community cohesion in the face of rising hate crime and hate speech?

♣ Current educational programs that target sexist stereotypes about what behaviour and personality women and girls should have are starting to break down the unconscious biases that currently work against women in our society and lead to misogyny and violence against women and girls.

How does hate speech impact on the emotional and mental-health of individuals who are targeted at a street and online level?

♣ Women are suffering from PTSD, chronic stress and anxiety as a result of misogyny inflicted upon them by men who do not consider that women deserve to live their lives in safety and with dignity.
♣ Many women simply leave social media as it becomes stressful and detrimental to their mental health. This is unfair as the digital domain is as much a part of everyday life as physical public spaces. Women deserve to be a part of the digital landscape and to have their say.
♣ In real life, out in public on the street, women are fearful for their safety on the basis of their sex as women are frequently assaulted and raped if they walk alone on the street.
♣ This creates a culture of fear and effectively blocks women from leading their lives freely without distress.If any other group, i.e. religious group or protected group experienced violence and death at the rate that women as a group do, there would be an outcry. It is shocking that the state is allowing this situation to continue for women.
♣ www.bustle.com/p/heres-how-sexism-can-affect-your-mental-health-according-to-science-62229

Thanks Micro. Thanks everyone.

Sitting down to do this later today.

How does hate speech and bullying impact children and young people in schools and educational institutions?

♣ Figures published in September 2015 showed that 5,500 sexual offences were recorded in UK schools over a three year period, including 600 rapes. A poll of 16-18 year olds in 2010 found 29 per cent of girls experienced unwanted sexual touching at school and a further 71 per cent said they heard sexual name-calling towards girls at school daily, or a few times each week.
♣ Girls and women are being denied a safe and inclusive environment for their education apart from when they are in single sex institutions. Being fearful and being harassed and assaulted at schools prevents girls and young women from being able to concentrate, focus and achieve. This has repercussions for the rest of their lives; reducing their options for future employment as well as their mental well-being over the course of their lives.
♣ See article regarding sex attacks in playgrounds at schools in the UK www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/playground-sex-assaults-are-becoming-an-epidemic-wcxh63tll