'Hold perpetrators to account'
Tackling violence against women and girls must be 'hard-wired into every decision'
Reading time: 3 min
Unite delegate Caroline Price made a powerful intervention in a debate about violence against women and girls at Labour conference on Monday (September 28).
Caroline began by welcoming the government’s commitments on the issue but said that they “must be hard-wired into every decision”.
She added, “Across all policy areas, we should ask: does this make women and girls safer and tackle the causes of violence?
“Trade unions can be key – putting trained, empowered equality reps at the heart of workplace prevention and making employers part of the solution like with Unite’s Get Me Home Safely campaign.”
Caroline highlighted the role that decent pay, secure employment, strong maternity rights and trade union representation play in protecting women. This is because they all give women “power to leave abusive situations and challenge harassment”.
She said the current crisis in violence against women and girls is being reinforced online, in “extremist and far-right ecosystems” like the manosphere or InCels.
“From neo-Nazis to religious fundamentalism – hatred of women is the rocket fuel that sustains them,” Caroline noted.
“Many support the surging far right – emboldened by Donald Trump, Nigel Farage and thugs like Stephen Yaxley-Lennon,” she continued, noting that over 4 per cent of those arrested during the Southport riots were reported to police for domestic violence.
She also noted the Kent councillors suspended for sexual harassment weeks after being elected, as well as the Reform UK vice-chair reportedly stating that “some women should have never left the kitchen” during an International Women’s Day event.
Caroline went on to highlight too, Nigel Farage’s “vile response to a female protester being grabbed by her neck and hair and beaten with a stick during his conference speech”.
“Prevention means putting responsibility where it belongs: on perpetrators,” Caroline concluded to applause. “It means holding those who fuel this violence to account for their actions.”
The motion was carried.
By Hajera Blagg
Photo by Mark Thomas
