DELEGATES demanded justice for rape and domestic violence survivors today, stating that systems in place had failed to address the “national emergency” of violence against women and girls.
TUC Womens Committee chairwoman and British Dietetic Association (BDA) delegate Annette Mansell-Green moved an emergency motion today at the TUC Congress on the issue.
She said the National Police Chiefs Council “finally” acknowledged in a July report that violence against women is a “national emergency” in England and Wales.
Ms Mansell-Green said the council estimated that two million women were victims of male violence a year, with a woman killed by a man every three days in Britain, though the figure is likely much higher due to under-reporting.
“Alarmingly, these crimes are increasing, with perpetrators getting younger,” she said, blaming online influencers such as Andrew Tate who “normalise sexual violence.”
She added: “Keir Starmer has also promised to halve violence against women and girls within a decade — that’s good, but this is national emergency now.
“The justice system is falling women with long delays in cases getting through to the court sytem and the failures of the police service themselves are well known.”
She said Wayne Couzens, the serving Met Police officer who abducted, raped and killed Sarah Everard as she walked home in London in 2021, had been allowed to serve after being investigated for indecent exposure and added: “What this motion calls for is a set of measures to make a difference for women.
“Violence against women and girls can no longer be considered a social norm and must be eradicated.”
BFAWU general secretary Sarah Woolley seconded, warning that migrant women needed to feel free to report violence without fear of immigration enforcement.
Delegates backed the motion, resolving to “reverse the effective decriminalisation of rape and ensure access to justice for all sexual and domestic violence survivors.”
They backed monitoring of the prevalence and nature of domestic violence and sexual harassment, including racialised forms of sexual harassment, and a campaign for fully funded support services, staffed by women, for women fleeing violence and domestic abuse.
Congress also called for a statutory code of practice for employers to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and victimisation at work including in the precarious jobs sector.
The motion stated: “Congress believes that these figures are evidence of shocking attacks on women, as the violence against women and girls highlights in an extreme form the oppression of women buttressed and enabled by sexist and misogynist ideology.”
