News & Campaigns

All the latest from HER-itage and our affiliates

26 November 2022 16:00 ~ Sexual violence as a weapon in Russia’s war against Ukraine – Ukrainian Institute London

Join us to discuss the use of sexual violence in Russia’s war against Ukraine and what needs to be done to bring the perpetrators to justice

  • Finishes at 17:30
  • At Room B35, Birkbeck Main Building Birkbeck Main Building Malet Street London WC1E 7HX
  • Free – but please register

Since the beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014, residents of Ukraine have been exposed to the risks of conflict-related sexual violence perpetrated by Russian troops. Yet the problem became internationally discussed only after February 2022. Recording the numerous crimes, administering justice, and introducing effective policies and services for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Ukraine continues to be a challenge. The discussion will highlight the voices of activists, practitioners and scholars who draw the world’s attention to sexual violence perpetrated in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

This event is co-organised by the Ukrainian Institute London, Birkbeck, University of London, SEMA Ukraine, International Council of Polish Women+ and Cambridge Families for Ukraine.

The event is part of SEMA Ukraine’s advocacy tour across major European capitals: London, Paris and Brussels. The trip includes impactful events, conferences and meetings with politicians, and decision-makers, as well as public engagement.

To support survivors of sexual violence in Ukraine click here

Speakers

  • Iryna Dovhan, activist
  • Alisa Kovalenko, filmmaker
  • Anna Kvit, Visiting Research Scholar, UCL (EISPS)
  • Katrien Coppens, Director of the Mukwege Foundation

(*) For full information and to book a place go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sexual-violence-as-a-weapon-in-russias-war-against-ukraine-tickets-467728347077

 

November 25, 2022

27 November 2022 11:30 ~ March for Freedom for Afghan Women & Girls – Action for Afghanistan – London

Afghan women are still fighting. We can still fight with them. #EndGenderApartheid

  • 11:30 Meet at Marble Arch
  • 12:00 March begins from Park Lane
  • 13:30 Rally & speeches on Richmond Terrace, Westminster

Our 3 Key Asks of the UK Government

  1. Establish An Asylum And Resettlement Route For Afghan Women At Risk
  2. Ringfence The Aid Budget For Afghanistan
  3. Any Uk Negotiation With The Taliban Must Centre The Fundamental Human Rights Of Afghan Women And Girls.

For full information about the campaign and demonstration go to https://marchforafghanwomenandgirls.com/

Sign up and show up at the London March for Freedom
please fill in the Eventbrite to help us have an idea of numbers – https://www.eventbrite.com/e/solidarity-march-for-afghan-women-girls-tickets-461354402437.

 

November 25, 2022

29 November 2022 18:00 ~ Gender-based violence in Colombia a Feminist perspective on Security – ABColumbia – London

Join us in a discussion on sexual and gender-based violence in Colombia – “Activists Voices from Colombia”

  • Ends 8:00pm
  • At Summet Valrani Lecture Theatre, 1st Floor Centre Building. London School of Economics Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE
  • Free but please register(*)

Colombia was the first country in the world to commit in its Peace Accord with the FARC-EP to no amnesties for conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence. Join in a conversation with Colombian Human Rights Defenders whose work focuses on raising awareness of the magnitude of the sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls.

The three Colombian Human Rights Defenders will discuss their engagement with the Transitional Justice System in Colombia, the impact of violence against women, their strategies, and proposals from a feminist perspective to tackle gender-based violence in Colombia. There will be a particular focus on the intersectionality of the violence particularly against indigenous women and girls, and ways in which women and girls are developing responses, along with changes that can be made to government security policies.

Chair:

  • Alexandra Abello-Colak – LSE- Latin America and Caribbean Centre & Coordinator of the programme Human Security, Violence Reduction and Security Governance in Cities.

Speakers:

  • Margarita Hilamo – Nasa Indigenous leader
  • Carolina Solano, Lawyer specialising in the Prevention of Sexual Violence at Sisma Mujer
  • Lizeth Trejos, coordinator of the Observatory of Human Rights and Violence against Women of the Association of Indigenous Councils of Northern Cauca – Codacop.

Reservation essential (limited places).

(*) Register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gender-based-violence-in-colombia-a-feminist-perspective-on-security-tickets-464905604177

 

November 25, 2022

Comments from the UN Special Rapporteur on aspects of Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill

“In my capacity as Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes, and consequences; pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 50/7. In this connection, I wish to bring to the attention of your Excellency’s Government information I have received concerning some aspects of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill (GRR) which is currently before the Scottish Parliament.

“The Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA) was introduced following a European Court of Human Rights ruling in 2002 (Christine Goodwin v The United Kingdom and I v The United Kingdom), which found that the United Kingdom had breached the rights of two transgender people under Article 8 (the right to respect for private life) and article 12 (the right to marry and found a family) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

“According to the proposed amendment, it will be possible to reduce the period that trans persons seeking legal recognition of their gender must have lived in their acquired gender from two years to three months. Furthermore, it is proposed that the requirement that a Gender Recognition Panel consider and be satisfied by the required evidence will be removed. Subsequently that person would obtain a gender recognition certificate that certifies them legally in that gender. For persons identifying as women, the certificate would create a legal presumption that they have the right to access women-only services, across Scotland. There are a variety of services that attend to anyone identifying as a woman, i.e. they consist of services and spaces for women born female, transwomen and other gender non-conforming women offered either in parallel or simultaneously and include shelters and support groups for victims of violence.

“However, I share the concern that such proposals would potentially open the door for violent males who identify as men to abuse the process of acquiring a gender certificate and the rights that are associated with it. This presents potential risks to the safety of women in all their diversity (including women born female, transwomen, and gender non-conforming women). …

“I would like to recall the UK’s obligation to make sure that all processes that affect the lives of all women and girls put them at the center of their deliberations, as well as its responsibility to take and enforce all measures to end violence against women. Second-guessing and questioning the needs of survivors of violence born female for single sex assistance and protection services is not victim-centered and ignores and undermines the survivor’s involuntary trauma, agency, and dignity.”

Reem Alsalem Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences

Read the full statement at https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=27681

 

November 25, 2022

Vital EU regulation needed to prevent the coercion of children online into most severe form of sexual abuse highlighted by new IWF study

  • Snap study by IWF found almost 900 instances of penetration, bestiality or sadism content in just five days.
  • More than half of the child sexual abuse material identified was hosted in EU.
  • MEP calls for a ‘harmonised EU approach’ for tackling this horrible crime.

Analysts at the Internet Watch Foundation found nearly 900 instances of the most severe form of abuse material – known as Category A in UK law and involving sexual penetration, acts of bestiality or sadism – over a five-day period.

All the criminal content analysed in the study had been shared online by an abuser, or abusers, coercing a child via an internet-connected device with a camera. The abuser was remote to the child.

In keeping with a broader trend, more than half of the content (57%) was hosted in EU countries, of which the Netherlands and the Slovak Republic feature in the top three.

The IWF is Europe’s largest hotline dedicated to finding and removing images and videos of child sexual abuse from the internet. It is the only European hotline with the legal powers to proactively search for this kind of content.

Creation of this type of sexual abuse content is orchestrated by criminals watching online via webcams, smartphones or other devices. Child victims are groomed and coerced into performing the sexual activities in their own homes and the images and videos are then shared and distributed many times over by offenders profiting from the victim’s trauma and abuse. No blame should be placed on the child.

Efforts to curb the amount of child sexual abuse material hosted in Europe are thwarted by criminals who relocate the material from servers in one host country to those in another to evade detection and blocking.

Children aged 11- to 13-years-old accounted for most of the images recorded (75%); while 20% was of 7- to 10-year-olds; and 5% were of children aged 14- to 15-years-old.

This type of child sexual abuse, where a child is groomed and coerced over the internet, is by far the fastest growing type of sexual abuse material seen by the IWF. Almost three quarters (72%) of the webpages actioned last year contained this sort of imagery – an increase on 2020 when 44% of actioned reports were abuse imagery created via the internet.

The snap study by the IWF was sparked by analysts viewing a “self-generated” video earlier this year of a young girl who had been coerced into penetrating herself with her finger before being instructed to rub her genitals with the handle of a sharp kitchen knife.

Among the Category A images and videos identified, 889 contained girls, six contained both boys and girls and one contained boys only.

A note about terminology used in this press release:

In her final report in the UK Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), Professor Alexis Jay OBE, the inquiry’s chair, calls for plain and clear language to be used when talking about child sexual abuse. She said in her opening statement to the final report: 

“We also need to use the correct words to describe the actions of abusers – masturbation, anal and oral rape, penetration by objects – these words are still not considered acceptable terms by many in public and private discourse. Every incident of abuse is a crime and should not be minimised or dismissed as anything less, or downplayed because descriptions of the abuse might cause offence.”

She is right. And it is thanks to her remarks that IWF has decided to make this data publicly available, and to describe what we’re seeing as accurately as we can.

If we cannot be brave enough to use the right words to describe the true horror of what children are coerced to do, how can we expect children to be brave enough to find a way to talk to trusted adults about what is happening to them online.

A brief extract from a longer press release at https://www.iwf.org.uk/news-media/news/vital-eu-regulation-needed-to-prevent-the-coercion-of-children-online-into-most-severe-form-of-sexual-abuse-as-highlighted-by-new-iwf-study/

 

November 25, 2022