End Violence Against Women Campaign
End Violence Against Women is a ground-breaking campaign representing 7 million individuals and organisations across the UK. We are calling on the Government, public bodies and others to take concerted action to end violence against women. We believe we can and must create a world free from the threat and reality of violence against women.
Members of the coalition include Rape Crisis, Women’s Aid, the Women’s National Commission, Amnesty International UK and the TUC. We include survivors, campaigners and service providers.
“Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation and it is perhaps the most pervasive”.
Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the UN.
What is violence against women?
Violence against women (VAW) is a violation of women’s fundamental human rights and is both a cause and a consequence of women’s inequality. VAW includes; rape and sexual abuse of girls; female genital mutilation, forced and early marriage, stalking, crimes in the name of ‘honour’, trafficking and sexual exploitation, sexual harassment and domestic violence.
VAW affects large numbers of women and girls and is most commonly perpetrated by known men.
- Almost half of women in England and Wales experience at least one incident of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking
- The conviction rate for rape has fallen for three decades, and now stands at 5.3% of reported rapes in England and Wales, and just 4.3% in Scotland
- 85% of victims of forced marriage are female
- An estimated 66,000 women with FGM are living in England and Wales (2001) and that there are nearly 16,000 girls under the age of 15 at high risk of WHO Type III FGM and over 5,000 at high risk of WHO Type I or Type II.
- One in five women in Northern Ireland has experienced domestic violence
- An estimated 4,000 women are trafficked into the UK for sexual exploitation each year
Whilst many women and children display remarkable resilience, the impacts on individuals and entire families can be devastating. There are also massive social and financial costs: government research puts the cost of domestic violence in England and Wales in one year alone at £23billion.
Map of Gaps
Recently, EVAW and the Equality and Human Rights Commission have published ‘Map of Gaps’, a report showing graphically, for the first time, the postcode lottery of violence against women support services.
Map the Gap - EVAW
Our report shows that:
- A third of local authorities in the UK have no specialised support services.
- Most women in the UK have no access to a Rape Crisis Centre.
- Less than one in ten local authorities have specialist services for ethnic minority women that would address forced marriage, female genital mutilation and crimes in the name of honour amongst other issues.
EVAW and the Commission are calling for the government and local authorities to take urgent action to end the postcode lottery in violence against women support services, stem the tide of closures and ensure that all women have access to these vital services.
Sign our petition here: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/violenceservices/
Learn more about End Violence Against Women and join our campaign by visiting our website.
You can also friend us on Facebook and MySpace, and visit our blog.
End Violence Against Women
17-25 New Inn Yard
London
EC2A 3EA
United Kingdom
tel +44 (0) 207 033 1559