Violence Against Women in the UK: The Horror we are Afraid to Admit

Recently, several horrific attacks took place against innocent women in India. These attacks were highly publicised and have spurred women across the country to fight for their rights; a cultural shift is taking place and one can only hope that it continues. Many journalists in the UK have criticised Indian society for its failure to treat women’s rights with the respect they deserve. For example, Libby Purves, columnist for ‘The Times’, has referred to Indian men as a ‘hyena-like populace’. Gethin Chamberlain refers to the ‘sickening culture of rape’ in India and many other reporters have freely used the term ‘rape culture’. It is important to criticise Indian society for its apparent tolerance of rape. But it is also important not to lose perspective on the issues facing us at home. In the process of pointing a finger at Indian society for the violence its women suffer, we may forget that a cultural shift needs to happen here as well. Georgia Arlott claims that “for most British women, sexual assault – casual or otherwise – is a blessed rarity, but the problems that exist in India have been sharply brought into focus by the appalling recent case in Delhi.” However, the sad truth is that Britain is by no means a safe haven for women. By admitting this fact we may begin on the long journey to real gender equality.

Related: Cultures of Sexual Violence – Playing the Blame Game

Fortunately, general discrimination against women is lower in the UK compared with many foreign countries and the UK’s laws are non-discriminatory. However, the amount of abuse that takes place against women is still deeply upsetting. This is not something to be disregarded as a ‘feminist’ issue, with all the unpopularity that the term receives (only 1 in 7 women self-define as ‘feminists’). This is an issue for all that regard widespread violence against a social group as utterly condemnable, as something that needs to be eliminated from society.

A recent Mumsnet poll – one of the largest of its kind – found that over one-third of women in the UK have been sexually assaulted at some point in their lives and over one in ten have been raped. It is important to refer to polls like these rather than conviction figures, as the conviction rate for rape crimes are notoriously low – out of 100,000 rape assaults last year, only 1% resulted in a conviction. The attacks are typically perpetrated by people known to the victim – last year in the UK, 1.2m (or 7%) of women suffered sexual assault, violence, threats or abuse at the hands of a partner or family member.

‘Waltz for Marie 2’. image credit : Camilla Mortimer.

Consider Delhi, a large and overcrowded city with a population of 16.8m, where 706 rapes took place last year – a record level for recent times. Then consider the UK. Though the population is 4 times as high as that of Delhi, the UK has over 23 times more rapes per year. Of course these figures do not account for the greater stigma attached to reporting rapes in India, and the claim that in Delhi women may be less likely to report rapes than women in the UK. However, even after accounting for this the comparison is striking. Furthermore, according to a study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the UK has the second highest rate of rapes in Europe – second only to Sweden. There is a serious problem in India and in many countries across the world with violence against women. However, we must not forget that there is a very serious problem here in the UK as well.

Related: On Rape, Short Skirts & Patriarchy: Are Women Wearing Short Skirts ‘Asking For It’?

Indeed, the fact that such crimes against women are so common suggests that they are the result of a cultural problem here in the UK. Such a claim is supported by the 2010 Opinion Matters survey, which found that almost 1 in 4 UK men believe that when a person says no and the other goes ahead with sex, it does not constitutes rape. Furthermore, over half of the men surveyed did not not grasp that if their partner changes their mind during intercourse, progressing with the sexual act constitutes rape. Clearly there is a lack of understanding as to where the moral boundary is, and as to what is and is not legally permissible conduct.

It is important for the portrayal of the UK as a ‘safe haven’ for women to be dismantled until it represents reality. Ignoring the shocking truths only damages attempts to remedy this situation. Conversely, greater exposure of the extent of violence against women in the UK would help encourage the public outcry and consequent actions that are necessary to resolve this issue. These actions include quicker response to domestic abuse claims – according to Polly Neate, CEO of Women’s Aid, women make on average 3 calls to the police before any action is taken, and greater education so that the public understand where the boundary is.

A recent EU study suggests that talking about the issue of violence against women may be increasingly becoming a social taboo in the UK (European Commission 2010). This is a shame; the act of bringing the topic to the forefront of our consciousness is a step, if only a small step, towards much-needed progress.

You may be interested in our series More Than 16 Days, which explores sexual harassment and violence against women around the world.