Another campaign to challenge abuse and harassment

[Whatthechicken]

Today Tracey Brabin launched a campaign - #Justdont to try to tackle the harassment and abuse of women and girls.

https://twitter.com/mayorofwy/status/1704103421484167648?s=46&t=g7UjjEa2S2y82o-tbjyL_g

Much like the #Maaate campaign of the Mayor of London, it is asking other men to call out the bad behaviour.

I find these campaigns incredibly frustrating. In my opinion, this is not even going to scratch the surface. This behaviour is ingrained, we are socialised from the moment we are born (or even before), this is a systematic problem and trying to challenge the status quo with #Justdont, is naive at best…as well as expensive. These campaigns don’t even seem to include the charities that have done decades of work on the issues or even actually talk to women about it. They seem to me to be just a tick box exercise that they can point to and say ‘we did something’.

I think we need police forces we can trust, we need the justice system and society to work for women and girls, we need people to understand the root causes of harassment and abuse and we need to empower our girls and appropriately socialise our boys. We need single sex services. Of course non of this will be achieved with a quick campaign telling men #JustDont.

Can we suggest some tactics to those in power, so they understand just how systemic these issues are and how we can even start to begin to tackle them?

I’m fine with it. I think it’s good.

I agree that this isn’t going to solve all the ingrained and institutionalised misogyny but it’s good to have a campaign that stigmatises casual male sexism. You don’t make big cultural change without small chip-away initiatives like this.

@Screamingabdabz even if that campaign cost over £150k for example - that’s not a confirmed figure btw, just a number that’s been alluded to. As an ex Marketing manager - that figure is not out of the realms of possibility though. Imagine what a charity already tackling this issue could have done with that sort of campaign money, if they had bothered to link up with them?

I would rather see the money spent in schools telling girls that if a man is interested in her it is not flattery it's grooming. And telling girls what a healthy relationship is and what the red flags are. And for boys to be told what a healthy relationship is and that if you can keep an erection whilst choking your girlfriend you need to seek help.

Under 15s in my area account for 10% of reported domestic abuse crimes.

Domestic abuse in my area accounts for 20% of all reported crime (17% for England and Wales). www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/domesticabuseinenglandandwalesdatatool

Something like 8 times as many domestic incidents are reported daily compared to burglaries.

Domestic abuse has untold impacts on victims and their families but also there are economic and social impacts. Costs to the NHS, social housing bill, mental health services, social services, etc.
We have to break the cycle and stop our girls (yes and boys too) becoming victims.

You can check your own figures via the Office of National Statistics, Equality reporting via your local force and data put out by your Police and Crime Commissioner.

I would rather it be spent ensuring there are laws for single sex toilet blocks and changing rooms too. With visible gaps at the bottom of toilet doors in female toilet blocks to deter sexual assaults within toilet cubicles (at least one child raped in a school for every school day in uk).

@FemaleAndLearning that was a really powerful post, thank you and I agree
with all of your points. @Tinysoxxx definitely! I returned to college last year as an early 40+, it was gender neutral toilets in a normal toilet enclosed corridor with 3 floor to ceiling separate cubicles in the library. It crossed my mind, that if a female ventured into this space on her own she could be easily forced into a cubicle and nobody within the library would hear her if she screamed/shouted due to the whole toilet space and the enclosed toilets.

Thank you what the chicken. Those mixed sex toilets are the worst. An enclosed space and floor to ceiling doors. The ironic thing is they put the floor to ceiling doors in so members if the opposite sex can't film. It's like they know they are not safe!

Handy image to share when discussing toilets. Though we have realised since creating it that many schools have what they are calling 'open plan unisex toilets' but what they mean are mixed sex toilets, that unlike your uni toilets are in an open area, so you don't go in an enclosed spaces. Finding the right language to convey what these are is difficult. Open plan mixed sex seems the best description.