The "so what can we actually do" thread...

[ImSoNotTelling]

Hello

Following on from the thread about changing the law on rape to grant anonimity to the accused, a few people have started to think about what we can do to get involved, to actually try and change stuff.

So I guess this thread is for suggestions, ideas, and for people to link up to actually try to change things.

So far we have someone possibly standing for pariament!

So come on everyone.

What's the plan....

I am here Prolesworth - sorry! DS didn't go to bed until really late tonight, I have been posting on here a bit but not had much chance to play on photoshop.

Has anyone got any ideas on what the logo could look like, and/or does anyone know of a free image site or source of free images we can use? I am a little bit stuck for a starting point.

As for "I believe you" - I think it would work well for lots of people to take a picture of themselves, their friends, their family, anyone, holding a piece of paper which says "I believe you" on it. We could start by taking pictures ourselves - and then putting them all on the website. Perhaps create a facebook group, and ask people who join the group to upload their own photos. State any photos uploaded to the group may be used for the website, then hopefully we would end up with loads.

Maybe even say something like "2000 women are raped in the UK every week. If you believe them, upload a picture of yourself holding this sign as your profile picture." - having it as a profile picture will probably get people talking more than just seeing someone has "Liked" a page or joined a group.

No, that helps I was thinking red too. And a bold, strong typeface. I was thinking of like a sign which is a red circle with diagonal line thing, but wasn't sure if that was too cliched and done before.

And I didn't think you were hassling me I'm going to go now, probably, but I will either be back in a bit or tomorrow. Too tired to think properly at the moment.

And for anyone following it, I have just left a comment on the netmums thread. I couldn't resist...

Loving the idea for the red "stop rape" things.

I'm a photographer (not pro, but have been doing it a long time) so if we need any photos doing I'm happy to take them.

Thanks for the lovely comments on the blog post - it should post itself on my blog in ten minutes or so. Do you think the last line, "Believe me," (which will link to the petition on the blog but doesn't on here), is good or a bit cheesy? I can't make up my mind.

Whoever it was asked if they can post it on NM, sure, go ahead. I'm not sure about Facebook - not all my family and friends know about it, and I don't suppose them finding out on Facebook is the way to go. I'm happy for it to be posted if someone else wants to, though... I'll try to think of a way around it.

Fab link Prolesworth! Very encouraging. Hopefully there'll be some more signatures on the petition today!

Kitty your blog post was superb. The 'Believe me' at the end is very effective and not cheesy in the least, it personalises it and gives a call to action.

That blog post was brilliant kitty

The logo

I was thinking; do we want

sort of spikey and uncomfortable looking
"funky" - a modern font maybe curvy
traditional - swirly twirly
blocky and bold

i can't think of any otehr sorts

Personally (feel free to disagree obviously!) I think that we need something accessible to everyone - we don't want the logo equivalent of a woman in dungarees screaming in your face (even if that is how we feel)

i think that red is an excellent bold colour so maybe we can afford to go for a "softer" font/feel - maybe something a bit "funky", a bit curvy - not like it's a ad for a disco - and not hyper-feminine - but not too stark. It's hard to explain!

For the "I believe you" logo maybe purple or blue? A calmer colour IYSWIM

Thank you I'm sorry to go on about it, I just care so much that I want the argument I put forward to be the best it can be from the start.

I agree on not being too mad-feminist-lesbian in the logo. Nothing wrong with it, but people will just dismiss that, they need to relate.

For the "I believe you" logo, I think we should keep it very simple as the message is simple, IYSWIM? Perhaps a "handwriting" sort of font would personalise it a bit? Not the flouncy ones, I think we need to avoid flounce, but one of the simple ones?

Great blog post, kitty.

Article from Police Professional on the proposal:
www.policeprofessional.com/news.aspx?id=10486

Oooh yes handwritten style is a great idea for the I Believe You.

In fact for the people using the signs could we ask them to write it themselves? We would have to make sure it was always the same size paper + same sort and colour of pen but other than that make them personalised by the people writing them?

Not sure... It will be more "branded" and recognisable if it's the exact same sign every time, but might be more personal and thoughtful if it's people's actual handwriting?

If the police are dead set against this law, they're going to have to pull it, aren't they?

Great link vesela

Ear pus is gross

DH is off work for a week now, we were supposed to be going on hol at lunchtime, but DH is also ill now with stiff achyness all over and bunged up nose. The baby's nose is running like a tap as well. i think we're going to have to put it off

DH said he has heard on teh radio that the police are against this new law.

The thing that concerns me now triggered by what the policeman says in that article:

"?I am quite concerned that a one-liner has created lots of storms when it is just highlighting that there is a review and research to be carried out in this area,? said Mr Whatton."

So now even if they pull the legislation, loads of people will say it was due to horrible hairy shouty lesbians, and what about the poor men, and there must be a real problem with this otherwise they wouldn't have suggested the law in teh first place

Yeah, I think people should be able to create their photo how they want, the message is important and there are lots of creative people out there who will do theirs in really interesting ways.

I think a handwriting font is excellent.

Excellent blog post Kitty, and I love the earlier quote about how if men don't want to be falsely accused of rape they shouldn't put themselves in that position.

I have bitten the bullet and posted a link to the petition on the debates board on Bounty which I also use. I doubt it will garner much support but every signature counts I guess.

Yes that's true if we're looking for people to upload, we need it to be as easy as poss for them.

i suppose I was thinking about the "this is what a feminist looks like" tshirts and how they are instantly recognisable, so people know what they're for and which organisation they belong to etc straight away.

So will we have a handwritten font on teh website and then in the pics everyone will do their own?

if we do win on this it will send out a very clear message to the new government that women's issues cannot be ignored. And if Theresa May ignores this or supports the change she will look pretty feeble as an Equalities minister.

also the wonderful thing about the Early Day Motion is that it shows Labour situating themselves in opposition as the party of women's rights; having just gone through and lost an election where women's issues were completely marginalised (and arguably done far too little for women during the time they were in power, though there's a separate discussion to be had there) they may be getting the message that these things matter to voters.

re. the police - while in general I wouldn't favour giving the police everything they ask for, it sounds as if the police are going to be able to make a pretty good case.

Someone linked to an interesting article on Kelly McCarthy's blog post (thought you did a great job there Prolesworth) about the DPP supporting anonymity for rape defendants in 2001 - here.

I think the most interesting bit is at the end, where the head of the Law Society's criminal law committee says there's a "powerful argument" under the Human Rights Act for rape defendants to claim their right to a fair trial has been breached, since the complainant had anonymity and they didn't.

That was written in 2001 - you would have thought that if there really was such a good case for rape defendants under the Human Rights Act, then someone might have brought it by now, wouldn't you. The fact that no one has (or if they did, they didn't get very far) speaks volumes. Because there are X reasons why the victim doesn't get a fair trial.