Received from: BDA
Congress notes with alarm that the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) report (July 2024) acknowledged that violence against women is a ‘national emergency’ in England and Wales. Although their analysis revealed that 2m women a year are estimated to be victims of male violence, they admitted that this was an underestimate because many if not most offences were not reported.
Congress believes that these figures are evidence of shocking attacks on women, as VAWG highlights in an extreme form the oppression of women buttressed & enabled by sexist and misogynist ideology.
Congress resolves to:
i. Ensure there is monitoring of the prevalence and nature of domestic violence and sexual harassment, including racialised forms of sexual harassment to which Black women are subjected.
ii. Demand a statutory Code of Practice for employers to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and victimisation at work including in the precarious job sector.
iii. Reverse the effective decriminalisation of rape and ensure access to justice for all sexual and domestic violence survivors.
iv. Ensure that migrant women can access the support, welfare systems and legal tools they need to escape abuse, and can report violence without fear of immigration enforcement.
v. Campaign for fully funded support services, staffed by women, for women fleeing violence and domestic abuse.
vi. Campaign for measures to prevent violence against women and girls, including resources and support for schools to address harmful sexual behaviour.
vii. Campaign to eradicate the cultural, economic and social norms that are the root causes of violence against women and girls.
Moved: British Dietetic Association
Seconded: Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union