Sian Berry chairs Conference debate: Women Left Behind
13 September 2007
At the Green Party conference in Liverpool, Green Principal Speaker Sian Berry today chaired a panel discussion on 'Women Left Behind', examining the violence and inequality that exists towards women in the UK today.
Joining Sian on the panel were:
- Diana Nammi, from the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation
- Yvonne Cass and Helen Todd, of the Northern Refugee Centre and REACT (Refugees Extending Awareness through Communication and Training)
- Toni Cole, speaking from the Safety First! Campaign.
The IKWRO has as its slogan 'Save Lives', and Ms Nammi brought home the message of the organisation with demands for a wholesale renewal of the British state's attitude and policies towards dealing with both women seeking asylum from countries which advocate these institutions, and the treatment of women within the UK.
First and foremost, forced marriage should be immediately criminalised to prevent even the prospect of 'honour killings'. A dedicated 'honour killing' violence unit set up by the Home Office, with full state support for women with no recourse to public funding, would go some way to addressing the imbalance, with a national protection scheme and safe housing provided. These measures are critical to halt the cycle of 'forced marriages' and 'honour killings', which undermine both the victims' basic human rights and the communities' process of integration.
The Northern Refugee Centre provides support and assistance for women refugees who arrive in the UK fleeing persecution from their Government's policies.
Yvonne Cass first talked about the dehumanising aspect of the initial asylum application. Women are often afraid or unable to talk about their reasons for seeking asylum for a number of reasons - if they have been subjected to rape and sexual aggression, there is often shame and disgrace in admission as in their culture it is the woman who is stigmatised by these events.
To add to the desperation, the New Labour Government has introduced the NAM (New Asylum Model) in handling asylum applications. This policy now requires applicants to tell their story and reasons for applying for asylum from between 4 to 14 days after arriving in the UK. The victims have often landed after a traumatic journey, escaping from persecution and sexual abuse. There is no counselling or support offered. Almost 50% of female asylum applications are victims of rape or sexual aggression, but many applications are rejected due to their inability to testify.
Toni Cull, from the Safety First Coalition, talked at length about the crucial need to decriminalise prostitution and the men who seek to use prostitutes, and strengthen the resources against the men who use violence and aggression against women.
After being harrowingly raped and violently sexually abused, Ms Cull's evidence and statement to the police was wholly rejected by the Crown Prosecution Services due to "lack of evidence". Because it was merely "her word against his", there was no case to be had. A criminally low 5.6% of reported rapes ever end in a conviction due to this attitude. Ms Cull brought a private prosecution against her attacker and, after 3 years, and on the same evidence that was originally dismissed by the CPS, her attacker was sentenced to 11 years.
Her story spoke volumes about the prevailing patriarchal attitudes of the judiciary. The assumption of guilt is automatically placed on the prostitute, and not on the rapist. By decriminalising and regulating prostitution, women are able to work in clean and safe conditions - you're 10 times less likely to be attacked in a brothel than working on the street, yet a 'brothel keeper' can face 7 years in prison compared to 6 months 20 years ago.
