UKPAC Study Day Violence Against Women – Stop it Now


Samantha Webster reports


After two years of meticulous planning, Soroptimists from UK Programme Action Committee (UKPAC) presented an informative study day on their flagship project, Violence Against Women - Stop It Now (VAW-SIN) at Reading University on 10 July 2010. 200 delegates from 100 Clubs attended; a diverse mix of expertise to discuss ways of eliminating global gender discrimination. Soroptimists attended workshops and presentations on the key issues of Trafficking and the Sex Trade, Forced Marriages, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Elder Abuse, Domestic Violence and the compilation and understanding of Life Story Books for the elderly. UKPAC Chairman, Sue Biggs said: “Although it is an enormous amount of work for the Committee to organise the UKPAC’s Study Days, the positive feedback from delegates has been heartening. The day has, clearly, been extremely worthwhile.”


INTOLERABLE ABUSE Forced marriages are a form of domestic abuse.


Victims can be made to form marital bonds for reasons such as family commitments and expectations, securing visas, the desire to control behaviour or to protect a family’s reputation. The Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) is a joint initiative between the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Home Office. They work to provide support to these victims, as well as working with Foreign Office staff overseas to rescue those who may have been held captive, raped, or forced into having an abortion due to forced marriage abuse. Over 1,400 reports of women facing forced marriage were dealt with by the Unit last year; however reports of male forced marriages have risen by 65 percent.


FMU Case worker, Alison Cairns, spoke at the study day to stress the need for urgency to help protect these victims. Her key message to Soroptimists was - ‘we have one chance to act’. With the summer holidays upon us, the five week break is traditionally a time when incidents increase and Alison wanted to warn professionals who work with young people to be alert and act on any concerns they may have by contacting the FMU immediately.


BEHIND THE SMILE Human trafficking continues to be a major


concern in the UK and can be regarded as a mode of slavery. Victims are controlled by traffickers with violence and intimidation for the purpose of exploitation for economic gains. Soroptimists were given a viewing of the short film, Behind the Smile, which outlines the stark reality of everyday trafficking. The two-minute film was produced by the Anti-trafficking Alliance in 2008 to raise awareness for women and children all over the world who are forced into sexual slavery and subjected to rape and physical and psychological abuse.


When people act things change The battle against exploitation is being fought by Stop the Traffik, a growing global movement of individuals, communities and organisations fighting to ‘PREVENT the sale of people PROTECT the trafficked and PROSECUTE the traffickers’. Established in 2006, the team from STOP THE TRAFFIK bring an articulate education on the issues of trafficking.


FGM The brutal practice of ‘cutting’ women was


outlawed in Britain in 1985 and in 2003 taking children out of the country to have it performed was also made illegal. Article 5 of the Declaration of Human Rights Act states that no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. And yet, illegal female genital mutilation continues to grow and breach human rights. FGM is cultural, not religious, and is performed


in order to make a girl more ‘marriageable’. It is practised in 28 African countries. The prevalence rate ranges from 98 percent of girls in Somalia to 5 percent in Zaire.


It also takes place among ethnic groups in the


Middle East, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Canada, the US, New Zealand and, increasingly, in the UK. Rita Buhanda, who is a Community Worker for an organisation called Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development (FORWARD), works to provide information to


CONTACT DETAILS: UKPAC: E: info@soroptimist-ukpac.org W: www.soroptimist-ukpac.org Forced Marriage Unit: T: 020 7008 0151 E: fmu@fco.gov.uk Stop the Traffik: T: 020 7921 4258 E: info@stopthetraffik.org FORWARD: T: 020 8960 4000 E: forward@forwarduk.org.uk A Dignified Revolution: T: 07811 159800 E: info@dignifiedrevolution.org.uk


18 SEPTEMBER 2010 Soroptimist News


communities on gender discriminatory practices. Rita gave a presentation outlining the issues


affecting women’s health and it was clear that Soroptimists, among others, must strive to put a stop to the physical and emotional scarring of children.


ELDER ABUSE Monica Dennis gave a presentation: ‘A Dignified


Revolution’. Monica, with Judith Allen, Lorraine Morgan and Alby Pearce, has established the initiative to alleviate poor health care for the elderly. Set up in January 2008 the team is driven by focusing on the dignity and respect of older people and encouraging the general public to challenge rather than tolerate unacceptable attitudes and inappropriate care of the vulnerable. “As Soroptimists are quite often from very


different professional backgrounds and work in different sectors there may be people who work in the health sector who may be able to influence elderly care”, said Monica.


LIVING IN FEAR On average, women in domestic violence


relationships contact 11 agencies before they receive the help they need. For black women this rises to 17 agencies. The Certain Curtain Theatre Company, who have been at the forefront of the use of theatre and drama within the field of domestic violence since 1995, bought with them their production of Lady in Red. The 45-minute play was shortlisted for the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award in 2005 and had both a gripping dialogue and plot, which accompanied ‘Rose’ on her journey to leave an abusive relationship. The after show discussion allowed Soroptimists the chance to question the barriers women experience through domestic violence.


The day provided a forum for discussion


to combat the global strife that women face. Feedback from the day has been overwhelming and the success will hopefully see Soroptimists take further action in their fight for the pursuit of equality.


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