Sex Attacks in Cologne and other European Cities Part VII

[januarybrown1998]

part 6

part 5

part 4

part 3

part 2

part 1

The events of NYE were shocking enough; the subsequent minimising and under-reporting were an affront to women's rights to equality across Europe.

It's a testament to the tenacity and commitment of this community that we are at thread VII; do join the discussion and feel free to share the links and letters to anyone you think may wish to be part of this important debate.

We are currently awaiting the approval of a petition to parliament.

Shortly we will post links for those who want to take a proactive part in safeguarding the rights of all UK women to live in freedom from the fear of mass sexual assault as we sadly saw in NYE and reports of which are finally seeing daylight across Europe.

On New Years Eve women in Cologne were subject to a sexual attack by a gang of men - who were reported to be mainly migrants. Women of the UK are concerned that such attacks of this extraordinary nature could happen in our cities.

Will the government assure us that measures have been put in place to prevent and tackle such incidents in future. UK women must be free to travel, work and live without intimidation and sexual violence ...

(My suggestion is to tell the government very honestly exactly what it is that is bothering us, and without being too cautious to tell it as it is .. )

Why are you preparing a petition? Nobody is willing to front it.

Yes Vertigo it seems its all our own fault for wearing the wrong clothes, wearing perfume and just for leaving the house but if anything happens to us we just have to suck it up. Are we really living in 2016?

Vertigo - I'm not sure what we are doing. But we need to keep talking and get our heads round the issue again.

Not much to ask really is it? Just to be free to go outside the house without someone thinking you're fair game is it?

We just tell the government we need to know they have a clear plan to tackle the issue and it needs to be communicated to everyone so that nobody is in doubt that do this sort of thing you will be prosecuted and if you are not a British citizen you may be asked to leave.

Yes talking around the subject is good.

You do know MN has had a sudden influx of trolls and people in Twitter of a description matching those perpetrators in Calogne made veiled threats regarding this petition? Anyone fronting it will be on a hit list, a petition is not going to happen.

What is this 'fronting' all about? Can it not be fronted from a group of people, like Mumsnetters. If not why not if there is a risk of an individual being on the 'hit list' so to speak?

ADJUSTED WORDING (300 characters).
I think it important to stress that this type of attack is unknown here, so I've added the word "hitherto". That should allude enough to the source.

On New Year’s Eve, women across the EU were subjected to mass sex assaults hitherto unknown in Europe. UK women must be free to travel, work and live without intimidation or sexual violence. We ask Government to debate preventative measures & give assurance that those responsible will be prosecuted.

Can we find an organisation to start the petition? we are all very aware of the unfortunate resistance to this

Keep talking, keep the pressure on, keep it in the public eye as an important point that needs sorting.

Help - yes I agree that an emphasis should be put on the extraordinary nature of these gang attacks - the likes of which we have not experienced in the UK.

Is the government aware of this phenomenon? How can it be prevented in the UK? Would such attacks be prosecuted? UK women are very concerned.

As things stand at the moment, current legislation is inadequate to prosecute anybody for this

Hmm ... are we sure about this? I don't pretend any legal knowledge, but it seems to me likely that there's enough scope for charges if the will is there. Trouble is this involves politics, which as we've seen so often usually has the potential to louse everything up completely

I've just spoken to the House of Commons petitions committee. The person whose name appears as the petitioner has no public link to email address or anything else. As you know, they require Name/Postcode/email address.
I am going to email the wording to them so that the person there can advise me if it's tickety-boo or not.

Did they reject the petition because the person starting ot used fake information?

Or were the supporters using fake names?

No, no one used fake names.

The first petition was rejected because Cttee said:

"It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do."

Personally I would be happy if we simply got the right to carry pepper spray legally.

Maybe we should start calling it "eau de cologne"...tee hee.

Hi all,

We are still receiving a fair amount of reports about these threads from folks who feel that it is a very one sided debate and that their views are being shouted down.

We ask that people are civil and don't shout troll just because an individual doesn't agree with their point of view. The beauty of Mumsnet is that we allow freedom of speech but we also feel that the very least posters should be is civil to others and their, often, very different opinions.

We really don't want discussions to be interrupted or to have to spend hours removing posts, but if troll hunting and personal attack continue, we will have to.

Many thanks
MNHQ

I think we need to ask Nicky Morgan (Minister for Equality and Women) to stand up and take a lead in pushing the Government to debate this - we should email her and the shadow in the labour party, plus the lib dem, SNP, DUP etc etc.....make a noise . To give Nigel Farage credit - at least he's raised it in the European Parliament...

dog as is Diane James, MEP

Thank you for your email on these horrific incidences; they are indeed shocking and a complete infringement of our democratic world and that no woman should fear for her safety however NO one person male or female young or old should fear walking about. Law should be respected and enough police to be able to take action. Individuals no matter where they come from should have a passport or registered in that country so prosecution can be made and fit the crime. The MEP's will certainly be looking into the details and address it.

Everyone, in view of MN's warning, let us please not get railroaded by losing our tempers (as I did) last week. It's the last knockings and it is clear to me that some would prefer that this petition died a death.

On New Year’s Eve, women across the EU were subjected to mass sex assaults hitherto unknown in Europe. UK women must be free to travel, work and live without intimidation or sexual violence. We ask Government to debate preventative measures & give assurance that those responsible will be prosecuted.

Excellent! :)

Can we find an organisation to start the petition?

Yes, Mumsnet is the organisation.

The actual person who starts it won't be identified.

I think help's wording is good, it gives a clear objective to the government, makes it clear what the issue is and asks them to come up with a plan.

It is worrying that the people who perpetrated this may be targeting this thread on twitter, clearly they fully expected to get away with it and nobody speak up.

Will be signing when it's live.

MamaMary
Can we find an organisation to start the petition?
Yes, Mumsnet is the organisation. The actual person who starts it won't be identified.

That is not possible. The petitioner has to give their zip code (not address) and if it reaches 100,000 and gets debated in Parliament, the lead debater will be the MP who covers that zip code. I am thinking about being the petitioner ........ I am going to phone Petitions Cttee office again after lunch, because I want a quick & informal appraisal of the amended wording.