News & Campaigns

All the latest from HER-itage and our affiliates

17 March 2026 23:59 ~ National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation Call for Evidence – Deadline

Baroness Amos is asking women and families across England to share their experiences of maternity and neonatal care through a public Call for Evidence.

Responses to the Call for Evidence will be used to inform the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation’s findings and recommendations.

The Call for Evidence is open for 8 weeks from 20 January until 17 March 2026.

There are two Call for Evidence surveys available:

  • One for women and people who have been pregnant to share their own experiences of maternity and neonatal services.
  • One for other people to share their experiences supporting someone through pregnancy. This could include fathers, non-birthing partners, family members, friends, or other support people.

You must be aged 16 and over to respond. If you are under 16, you must complete the Call for Evidence with somebody who is 16 or over.

Please do not include any personally identifiable information in the free-text boxes.

All experiences will remain anonymised for evidence processing and use in investigation reports and publications.

For more details, please refer to our Privacy Notice, which explains that personal information will not be used to identify individuals.

  • The deadline for responding to the Call for Evidence
    is 11:59pm on 17 March 2026.

For full details in how to respond and the call for evidence in other languages and Braille etc., go to https://www.matneoinv.org.uk/call-for-evidence/

January 26, 2026

17 March 2026 23:59 ~ National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation Call for Evidence – Deadline

Baroness Amos is asking women and families across England to share their experiences of maternity and neonatal care through a public Call for Evidence.

Responses to the Call for Evidence will be used to inform the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation’s findings and recommendations.

The Call for Evidence is open for 8 weeks from 20 January until 17 March 2026.

There are two Call for Evidence surveys available:

  • One for women and people who have been pregnant to share their own experiences of maternity and neonatal services.
  • One for other people to share their experiences supporting someone through pregnancy. This could include fathers, non-birthing partners, family members, friends, or other support people.

You must be aged 16 and over to respond. If you are under 16, you must complete the Call for Evidence with somebody who is 16 or over.

Please do not include any personally identifiable information in the free-text boxes.

All experiences will remain anonymised for evidence processing and use in investigation reports and publications.

For more details, please refer to our Privacy Notice, which explains that personal information will not be used to identify individuals.

  • The deadline for responding to the Call for Evidence
    is 11:59pm on 17 March 2026.

For full details in how to respond and the call for evidence in other languages and Braille etc., go to https://www.matneoinv.org.uk/call-for-evidence/

January 26, 2026

Strangulation During Sex in the UK – Institute for Addressing Strangulation (IFAS)

This report lays out the findings of the UK’s first in-depth survey of 4,175 individuals aged 16-34, exploring the experiences and perceptions of strangulation during sex.

Overall, over half of all respondents (55%) have either been strangled or strangled someone during sex.

18-20 years old is the most common age respondents reported first starting to strangle others and be strangled.

The youngest age group surveyed was 16-17-year-olds. 43% of 16–17-year-olds who had prior sexual experience (16% of all 16-17-year-olds surveyed) reported having been strangled during sex.

32% of 16-17-year-olds who had prior sexual experiences (12% of all 16-17-year-olds surveyed) reported having strangled others during sex.

https://ifas.org.uk/strangulation-during-sex-in-the-uk/

 

January 19, 2026

Dating apps and social media platforms must now prevent cyberflashing, as it becomes a priority offence under the Online Safety Act

From: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Home Office, The Rt Hon Liz Kendall MP and Jess Phillips MP

  •    Online Safety Act strengthened as ‘cyberflashing’ becomes a priority offence
  • Dating apps and social media platforms now have to take proactive steps to prevent this vile content before users see it
  • New law follows a historic government strategy to halve Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) within a decade, which included a commitment to make cyberflashing a ‘priority offence’ under the Online Safety Act

People using dating apps and social media platforms will be better protected from receiving unsolicited nude images, as a new law compelling tech firms to stop this type of content before it reaches users comes into force today (Thursday 8 January).

Platforms will be required to take proactive steps to prevent this vile content from appearing in the first place, not just react after the harm is done. Tech firms will now face some of the strongest requirements under the Online Safety Act as ‘cyberflashing’ becomes a Priority Offence.

Companies could tackle these images for example by using automated systems that pre-emptively detect and hide the image, implementing moderation tools or stricter content policies.

Those that fail to comply could face fines of up to 10% of their qualifying worldwide revenue, or have their services blocked in the UK.

Bumble was the first dating app to explicitly moderate cyberflashing to protect its members from seeing unwanted pictures.

The women-first dating app launched Private Detector, an AI-powered feature that automatically detects and blurs nudity in images sent within chats. It then alerts the recipient who can choose to view, block, or report the image. The AI model is carefully trained with vast datasets to avoid misclassification.

Ofcom will now consult on new codes of practice, setting out exactly what steps platforms must take to protect users from unsolicited sexual images.

The priority offence marks another step in making the online world safer, particularly for women and children, who are disproportionately targeted. 1 in 3 teenage girls has received unsolicited sexual images*. This government is serious about ending that.

This builds on the government’s wider commitment to tackle online abuse and halve violence against women and girls, making clear that the digital world is not a law-free zone.

Through the cross-government strategy to Build a Safer Society for Women and Girls, published on 18 December, we committed to making the ‘cyberflashing’ offence a ‘priority offence’ under the Online Safety Act.

These strengthened protections will tackle the problem at the root, before women are subject to this gross violation.

  • The survey was carried out by YouGov between people aged 12–18-year-olds in England.

To read the full press release go to https://www.gov.uk/government/news/stronger-laws-for-tech-firms-to-ensure-you-dont-see-unsolicited-nudes

January 19, 2026

2026 New Year Honours for Women Working for Women – none?

In previous years we have posted information about Honours awarded to women working domestic violence projects and support services for survivor of rape or sexual abuse.

This year we could not see any. If we are wrong please let us know.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-year-honours-list-2026

For New Year and Birthday Honours previously awarded see http://www.womensgrid.org.uk/?s=Honours+for+Women+Working+for+Women

January 19, 2026