Seema Malhotra MP pledged her support for UK SAYS NO MORE to take a stand against domestic abuse and sexual violence and to urge the Government to do more to prevent domestic violence in the UK.
UK SAYS NO MORE is a national campaign to raise awareness of domestic abuse and sexual violence across the UK. It is run by Hestia, London’s largest provider of domestic abuse refuges.
With over 140 coalition partners, UK SAYS NO MORE seeks to unite and strengthen a diverse community of members of the public and organisations nationwide to actively take a stand against domestic abuse and sexual violence.
The British Crime Survey has found that 1 in 4 women will be a victim of domestic abuse in their lifetime while 1 in 6 men will also be affected. Domestic abuse also accounts for 8% of all recorded crime within the United Kingdom. 950,000 children across the UK are affected by domestic abuse every year (SafeLives, 2014) and 79% of women reported leaving their partner because they feared for the safety of their children (Hestia, 2015). In addition, a study by Rape Crisis in 2016 found that there are 11 rapes an hour in the UK.
In UK SAYS NO MORE Week, which runs from 21st – 27th May 2018, Hestia are asking the public and politicians to take a stand. They are asking the Government to go further on measures to prevent domestic abuse and they are asking Parliamentarians to stand with them by signing a Charter on Prevention. This Charter asks for:
- Responsibility for education and awareness to be enshrined in the role of the new Domestic Abuse Commissioner and for education around healthy relationships to spread into all walks of life. It will be incumbent on the new Commissioner, the Government and local authorities to make this happen.
- Greater support for children who have witnessed or experienced domestic abuse.This can have a long term impact on children and more funding needs to be channelled into ensuring young people have access to mental health support.
- Domestic abuse to be everyone’s business. In particular there needs be greater awareness raising amongst employers who can play a key role in supporting employees who are experiencing abuse. The employers ‘duty of care’ needs to be expanded to include their responsibilities in dealing with domestic abuse.
The call comes as new data from Hestia, the largest provider of domestic abuse refuges in London, reveals that more than half (55%) of Brits who witness domestic abuse as a child will go on to be victims of domestic abuse in their adult life. The polling by Opinium highlights the stark need for more action to break the cycle of abuse.