11th March 2020 - Domestic Abuse Commissioner Meeting / Speech at Portsmouth University
FiLiA were pleased to bring together a group of experts to meet with new Domestic Abuse Commissioner Nicole Jacobs about the family Court system. Nicole welcomed us at the Home Office and listened to the issues raised. We heard from Natalie of #TheCourtSaid who collects cases from all over the country where women have been further abused by the system. We then heard the traumatic case of Zoe Dronfield and the issues she faced from a family court that prioritised her abuser not her child. We also heard the horrendous journey of another survivor whose experience beggars belief in a so called civilised society. We were able to balance this with the evidence gathered by Dr Shazia Choudhry in her important work.
We had many ideas about how the system could be improved and Nicole has asked us to continue to meet and work with her on influencing change in the system – watch this space.
By SJ
SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SPHERES
Thanks to the University of Portsmouth Women’s and Gender Studies Research Group for the invitation to speak at one of their workshops. The room was packed and many aspects of the topics were covered including:
Sumitha Kishna, Director of Our Journey spoke from Malaysia about addressing sexual harassment and reproductive rights of Women migrant workers
June Purvis took us through sexual harassment and the suffragette movement in Edwardian Britain, showing a number of postcards and posters from the time
Busra Nisa Sarac investigated ‘representations of gender-based violence committed against the Yazidi in the twenty-first century’
Alessia Tranchese spoke on how the media determines how we understand sexual violence
Emily Nicholls reviewed her thesis on sexual harassment and the ‘girls night out’
I was pleased to be able to present too. I covered briefly the history FiLiA, then went on to mention just a small number of Women who have spoken at our conference, including (but not limited to) the Lesbian Immigration Support Group, Women Asylum Seekers Together, Consuelo Rivera-Fuentes, Women in Hebron, Grizelda Grootboom and others.
I reminded the room that attempts have been made to silence Women for millennia, but that there is hope - a global consciousness raising of Women and Girls is occurring. We are informing ourselves, organising and mobilising.
There were lots of questions for each of the speakers indicating a high level of interest. We learned much from each other and all in all it was a very successful afternoon. Thanks again to the organisers.
By LM