We spoke with Rachel Krys, director of the Ending Violence Against Women coalition, about her work, the impact of the #MeToo movement and the place of litigation and technology in ending violence against women and girls.
Can you explain a bit about what the Ending Violence Against Women coalition is and what the aims of the coalition are?
EVAW is a coalition of specialist women’s support services, researchers, activists, survivors and NGOs working to end violence against women and girls in all its forms. Established in 2005, we campaign for every level of government to adopt better, more joined-up approaches to ending and preventing violence against women and girls, and we challenge the wider cultural attitudes that tolerate and condone this abuse.
Were you active in the ending violence against women space before you became co-director of the Ending Violence Against Women coalition?
Before joining EVAW I spent a number of years working in human rights, using strategic communications to reframe attitudes to human rights in the UK. As part of that work, I was involved in audience attitude research with EVAW and helped to produce a film about the experiences of young black women in London.
After three years of research and strategy I was excited to get back to direct campaigning, still on human rights and this time focused on an issue which has always been close to my heart and for an agenda-setting campaign.
How do you think the environment has changed for organisations and individuals whose work is focused on addressing violence against women and girls since the EVAW coalition was formed in 2005?
EVAW was set up to campaign for an integrated violence against women and girls strategy, trying to get multiple arms of government to work together to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls in a meaningful way. The strategy was introduced in 2010 and it quickly became clear that there was a lot more work to do. Other parts of government, including the CPS and London government, introduced their own strategies and this has had an impact on approaches to tackling violence against women and girls.
Since the Saville revelations, there has been a new conversation about child sexual abuse and it is now possible to talk about the institutional and societal causes of sexual abuse and even about prevention – something which has been missing from the conversation.
EVAW has always talked about the continuum of violence against women and girls – which may manifest in different forms including sexual violence, FGM, forced marriage, domestic violence, sexual harassment etc, but which are all consequences of women’s inequality and misogyny. We also ensure that when we’re talking about these issues, we always connect them and make sure we’re talking to and about all women’s experience of violence.
Women’s further inequality as a result of wealth and social class, sexuality, ethnicity, disability, mental health, and age, makes them more likely to experience violence and less likely to access justice and support. This intersectional analysis is becoming more widely recognised and has to be part of the ongoing conversation.
There has been a huge amount of discussion about a significant positive shift and changing social attitudes to violence against women since the Weinstein revelations. Do you think the #MeToo movement marks a radical shift in the feminist movement?
#MeToo is an important moment because it’s women from across the globe, and from all walks of life, linking their experiences of violence. It’s something EVAW’s been talking about for years, but this is the first time its reached mainstream attention.
There is something incredibly powerful about people who have been silenced – by legal agreements, society or fear – sharing their stories and giving others the space to share theirs. It feels like a cork has been released and it can’t be put back in the bottle. But there’s work to do to make this more than a moment. Everyone who’s spoken out has to believe it has had an impact, has made a real change. That means the institutions which have enabled the abuse to continue for so long have to put in place measures to eradicate it.
There has to be a shift in power, and it’s going to be hard for those who have benefitted from the status quo, to give up their power. It’s nothing short of revolutionary, and it’s not going to be easy.
A big part the work you do at Ending Violence Against Women is supporting legal challenges that support women who have been subjected to violence. The recent judicial review brought by victims of John Worboys challenging his release being a prime example. What role do you think strategic litigation of this kind can play in ending violence against women?
Using the law has to be part of challenging injustice and ensuring the state is meeting its basic duties to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls. The criminal justice system will never be the whole answer. We need all statutory services, and all parts of the state, to play their part.
This means schools and education authorities have to be challenged if their response to sexual violence means girls are routinely dropping out of school or being forced back into classrooms with the boy who raped them. It also means Police and Crime Commissioners and Clinical Commissioning Groups should be challenged if they fail to commission services which meet the needs of women fleeing or recovering from violence. And it means challenging the police when their failures mean more women are raped by a perpetrator who should have been stopped much earlier, as in the Worboys case.
We have laws and protections which should mean women and girls are safe, but they need to be upheld and sometimes the only way to do this is through the strategic use of litigation, in combination with other tools including raising public awareness, lobbying politicians and engaging in conversation in the media.
Technology is increasingly relevant in both the perpetuation and prosecution of acts of violence towards women. Ultimately do you think technology is a positive or negative force in seeking to eliminate violence against women and girls?
Technology has enabled a new feminist activism, it meant #MeToo became a global movement almost overnight and it has created a new space for women to come together and organise. But of course, it has also enabled much of the abuse which women are experiencing today.
The anonymity which so many trolls and bullies hide behind, and the ability to ‘pile on’ and bully a woman when she speaks out or simply expresses an opinion is dangerous and silencing. This isn’t a new phenomenon. Women have always had to fight for their share of public space, and bullies have used intimidation and violence to keep women out.
Just as we expect architects to ‘design in’ safety in the physical world, we should expect tech companies to create inclusive and safe online spaces. We have to be loud in our defence of women’s right to be online, to be part of the technological revolution which has the potential to create freer, safer and more equal spaces than anywhere we’ve been able to create in the physical world.
You hold the annual the End Violence Against Media Awards - why do you think it is particularly important to celebrate publications and journalists who cover issues around ending violence against women and girls?
The media are in a unique position not just to report on but to shape public perceptions about violence against women. The media has the power to expose under-reported forms of abuse such as trafficking and so-called ‘honour’-based violence. It can also counter the tendency in some quarters to recycle myths about rape and domestic violence, including ideas about how victims ‘should’ behave.
By celebrating the very best journalism on issues of violence against women and girls, the Awards encourage greater investment in stories that are informed, accurate, sensitive and fair, and that help to ‘set the agenda’ and create public debate and change.