'Violence against women' too focused on victims

Call for emphasis to switch to perpetrators

Members of new multi-agency commission in Plymouth, set up to tackle violence against women and girls, faced questions from the public this week in a virtual Q&A session. 

Panelists were quizzed about how they would place more focus on perpetrators than victims, relationship education in schools and taxi services in Plymouth. 

The commission was set up following the death of 18 year-old Bobbi-Anne McCleod who disappeared from a bus stop in the Leigham area of the city last month.   

Cody Ackland, 24, has been charged with her murder. 

Hosted by the panel’s chair, Cllr Rebecca Smith (Conservative, Plymstock Radford), other members included police and crime commissioner, Alison Hernandez, Plymouth police commander Chief Supt. Matt Longman and Hannah Shead and Lyn Gooding, joint chairs of the Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Local Partnership Board of Safer Plymouth).  

During the Q&A, one participant asked: “Would it be more appropriate to have a strategy called ‘Tackling Violence by Men’ and then maybe it would focus on the problem we’re facing?”

Hannah Shead, CEO of the Plymouth women’s charity Trevi, agreed.  “We’ve got to take it beyond just talking to women,” she said.

“We need to talk to the men in our lives, we need to talk to the sons in our lives. 

“One of the things we’re talking about is education, which is a difficult, uncomfortable subject.

“We’re talking about pornography, the rise in violence within pornography, access to online pornography. These are all some really difficult conversations, but we have to start having them.”

Another particiapant asked: “If we’re looking at tackling the problem ‘upstream’ as well as addressing it in the here and now, should we involve young people in the conversation?”

Lyn Gooding, CEO of the charity, First Light, which supports victims of sexual violence living in the Plymouth and Cornwall area, suggested it should begin early in a child’s education. “We need to start a really young age with this,” she said.

She added that talking about healthy relationships was important but accepted that it, “can be really uncomfortable for parents. 

“But we need to start at primary school with really young children so they understand what is and isn’t an unhealthy relationship, but also allows them to identify when something’s not quite right at home.”  

Chief Supt. Matt Longman suggested the statistic for sexual offences in Plymouth were lower than in comparable areas but added that there was no room for complacency.  

He agreed that difficult conversations needed to be had, especially about rape and sexual offending.  He added: “Also violence without injury. So, without getting too technical, it might be that someone’s had a violent experience but they haven’t actually picked up an injury. Those are the areas that I think we need to do more work on.”

Police and crime commissioner Alison Hernandez said current laws and policing put too much emphasis on the victim rather than the offender.  

“One of the reasons is that there is more of a focus on the victim’s credibility than there is on the evidence in the case,” she said.

“There are some real issues about why there’s been such a victim focus. That’s why I don’t even like the term ‘victim focus’, because what does that mean? Actually it means, in the criminal justice system, you actually get looked at more than the perpetrator. 

“So we’ve got some real challenges in the criminal justice system.”

Lyn Gooding said there were ways to resolve that but it could mean radical changes to the law. “In Australia, they are using the approach of – ‘How do you prove you had consent?’” she said. 

“So you’re totally turning the tables on an allegation being made. And I wonder what it would look like if we actually changed our approach to it in this country and we would actually have to go out and – when an allegation is made – ask how can they prove that they had consent?”

But Ms Hernandez added that confidence in the likelihood of getting a conviction for a sexual offence had decreased since the beginning of lockdown.  

She said: “The court’s backlog that’s happened during the pandemic will have exacerbated that problem. 

“And when you’ve been a victim of rape or a serious offence, you are not going to want to wait one year to two years to get that through a court because you are going to want to get on with your life.”

The commission agreed to report in March 2022; a timetable which was later criticised as being too long by some councillors and campaigners.   

Cllr Sally Haydon (Labour, St. Budeaux), Plymouth Labour’s lead on tackling violence against women and girls, said: “There seems to be no acknowledgment of the real and immediate fears of women and girls in our city and no urgency to tackle them and I can’t see much evidence that they are listening to what people are telling them.

“We have been told the commission – which I’m glad to have been asked to part of – will report in March, but what is happening in the meantime?”

Safety campaigner Charlotte Holloway, who took part in the Q&A, said the city: “urgently needs every portfolio holder in Plymouth City Council’s Conservative cabinet to tell us what they are going to do.  

“There is only a short amount of time for the city council to give meaningful reassurance to women and girls from all walks of life in Plymouth. I fear that window is being missed, if it hasn’t been already.” 

Commission members will continue to work on the ideas and concerns before the next meeting.