Tag Archives: LGBTQ

Ending violence against women and girls: a renewed commitment

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Instances of reported violence and misogyny against women and girls are rising. The high profile murders of Zara Aleena, Sarah Everard, Bibaa Henry, Nicole Smallman, Maria Rawlings, Sabina Nessa and Ashling Murphy have again raised questions about what can be done to tackle the rising incidence of violence against women and girls.

Violence against women and girls, as set out by the United Nations, is any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.

More broadly, the agenda around tackling violence against women and girls seeks to tackle more inherent and systemic attitudes towards women and girls, their “roles” in society and the actions, of both men and women, which further entrench the gender biases that women and girls experience on a regular basis.

Under-reporting and challenging everyday behaviours

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that across the UK, 22% of women report having been a victim of sexual assault. In addition,14% of women aged 16 to 19, and 10% of women aged 20 to 24 say they have been a victim of domestic abuse.  Research by UN Women UK has also found that 71% of women in the UK have experienced some form of sexual harassment in a public space, with this number increasing even further to 86% among women aged 18–24.

However, the prosecution rates for crimes associated with VAWAG, such as rape or domestic abuse are low, and there is a general consensus that more needs to be done within criminal justice to try and improve confidence in the system.

Under-reporting of harassment is also extremely common and for that reason, even the research which is conducted, will often not capture the full scale of the issue. Looking at dis aggregated data is also important. Research shows that LGBTQ+ and minority ethnic women and girls’ experiences tend to be even worse than those of their straight, white counterparts, but their experiences, and the disproportionate impact these have are not always accurately reflected in research.

A renewed commitment to women and girls

In 2022 the Scottish Government published Misogyny: a human rights issue? The report outlines the findings of the Working Group on Misogyny and Criminal Justice and explores misogyny as a human rights issue in Scotland, and the ways in which current legal protections around misogyny can be improved.

The recommendations set out by the Scottish Government commission seek to place Scotland as a world leader in the fight to tackle misogyny and improve the experiences of women and girls. In October 2021 the “Don’t Be That Guy” public awareness campaign was also launched, which called on men to interrogate their own and their peers’ behaviour towards women.

The Mayor of London has also published a refreshed Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy (June 2022) which sets our his ambition to eradicate VAWAG in London and for every woman to be able to participate fully in life across the city. The Mayor of London also recently launched a new campaign which focused on

“addressing the sexist attitudes and inappropriate behaviours exhibited by some men, in order to tackle the epidemic of misogyny and violence towards women and girls”.

It is hoped that, along with the night-time charter and Violence Against Women and Girls strategies which have been well received by businesses in London since their respective launches, that the combined efforts will make it easier for people to report sexual harassment and violence in London and also help make the city a safer and more enjoyable place for people to work and spend time.

Other sectors are also becoming increasingly aware of their responsibilities in trying to drive change in attitudes towards women and make spaces easier and safer for them to navigate. The RTPI published a report in 2021 which looked at the importance of gender based design, not only from the specific perspective of the built environment, but how design of spaces and environments can also inform other behaviours and attitudes and contribute to wider factors such as health, employment, leisure time or the accessibility of services for women and girls.

Misogyny: a human rights issue?

Research conducted by the Scottish Working Group on Misogyny and Criminal Justice, and more broadly by those working across gender equality highlights that there are several laws (in Scotland and in other countries) that are capable of being applied to misogynistic behaviours. However, there is what they describe as a “critical gap” in the implementation and application of these laws to violence against women in public and private spaces.

The development of a specific offence in relation to misogyny aims to both meet the gap in terms of legislation to prosecute, but also to raise the visibility of such offences, not only to improve rates of reporting, but also to encourage police and prosecutors to take offences of this nature more seriously. The working group have also suggested a change to the approach to violence against women and misogyny more generally, treating it as a human rights issue, as well as a specific criminal offence.

Another approach changing the way we are thinking about VAWAG is adopting a public health, whole system approach to VAWAG. This approach places an emphasis on education and partnership working across multiple disciplines and sectors and focuses on prevention as a key tool in tackling what has been called the “endemic” VAWAG which exists within our communities.

One of the biggest challenges to policymakers and service providers of this type of approach will be evidencing impact, and creating robust and thorough processes for evaluation, particularly when multiple partners are involved in delivery.

Final thoughts

Tackling violence against women and girls is about far more than tackling individual instances of crime and abuse, but rather about wider perceptions and attitudes, and the ability of women to live, work and interact in public and private spaces freely and without fear.

In Scotland, legislators hope that the findings of the working group will be the first step on a journey which will see Scotland become among the most progressive nations when it comes to legislating to protect against VAWAG.

For women and girls, it remains to be seen if the steps and actions proposed actually have any impact on promoting meaningful changes to attitudes and behaviours towards women and make our communities and public spaces more equitable and safe for everyone to live and contribute to their fullest potential.

Photo by Chelsi Peter on Pexels.com

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Health inequalities and ethnic minority communities: breaking down the barriers

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Co-housing: the promises and the pitfalls

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Over the past two years, the coronavirus pandemic and the cost of living crisis have eclipsed the UK’s chronic housing shortage. But the housing challenges of 2019 are still with us in 2022, and in many ways they have worsened. According to the housing charity Shelter, over 17 million people are living in overcrowded, dangerous, unstable or unaffordable housing.

There’s no single solution to Britain’s housing emergency. But one idea that’s gaining increasing attention is co-housing.

A London School of Economics report has given a good definition of co-housing:

“A co-housing group is formed by a community of people typically with similar needs and interests. Co-housing is owned by the group and usually contains private rooms or houses with communal areas such as living rooms and kitchens, where people will come together to share meals and spend time together. The residents are responsible for the management and maintenance of the site, and they are run in a non-hierarchical way, giving all residents an equal say in how they are organised.”

The modern co-housing movement began in Denmark in the 1970s, and has since spread to other European countries, including Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. There is now a growing number of co-housing projects in the UK, and although these are small in scale, they are pointing the way to alternative models of housing, and also to addressing other social issues, such as isolation and loneliness.

The promises of co-housing

The proponents of co-housing suggest that it has multiple benefits for residents:

  • affordability: by pooling resources such as cooking, childcare, and household expenses, co-housing residents can cut costs;
  • security: co-housing provides safe spaces for residents to live and socialise;
  • sustainability: sharing resources increases efficiency and reduces waste;
  • community: co-housing residents make decisions together, and co-housing can also reduce the chances of isolation.

The multiple faces of co-housing

There is no single template for co-housing. Some projects have a mixture of generations, singles, couples and families, while others focus on the needs of particular communities. In the United States, intergenerational co-housing projects have brought together retired people, families and foster children. Another scheme, in Berlin, has been designed for older gay men, but also welcomes older lesbian women, trans and inter persons, as well as younger LGBTQ+ people.

In 2016, the UK’s first co-housing project for older women opened in Barnet, north London. The New Ground scheme has been successful in developing a mutually supportive community of women over the age of 50. In addition, New Ground has worked to encourage policy makers, planners and housing associations to recognise the social and economic benefits of co-housing, and to respond to the demand that exists for senior co-housing.

Because co-housing is often seen as being reserved for communities who are affluent and predominantly white, Housing 21, a leading provider of retirement properties for older people, has recently launched a co-housing initiative with a focus on older Black and Asian people of modest financial means.

Tackling isolation: how co-housing can address loneliness

The communal nature of co-housing makes it a natural fit for people who are isolated and lonely. This was one of the themes of a recent webinar hosted by Housing LIN. One of the participants was Kath Scanlon, a researcher from the London School of Economics, who highlighted her work exploring the links between loneliness and participation in community-led housing.

Kath’s research has underlined the importance of social connection with neighbours and sharing spaces with others as ways of preventing loneliness:

“Broadly, we found that the most tight-knit places, where members knew and trusted each other most, performed best as supportive communities… Emotional loneliness was countered by fostering meaningful relationships and ‘belonging’ through physical proximity, sharing similar values, a reciprocal commitment and care, looking out for and supporting each other.”

A resident’s perspective

One of the most engaging and powerful contributions to the Housing LIN webinar came from Alison Cahn, who has been a resident at Lancaster Cohousing scheme since 2012.

Alison was one of the first residents of the scheme, which is an intergenerational co-housing community of households in the village of Halton, three miles from Lancaster in the North West of England.

The Lancaster scheme was designed by the people who live there. It consists of private homes, community facilities and shared outdoor space. Shared facilities include a laundry, food store and a car share scheme.

As Alison explained, the scheme is an eco-housing community, designed to make sustainable living easy. The homes are built to Passivhaus standards, which means they use about 15% of the energy to heat compared to conventional housing. Electricity comes from the scheme’s own microgrid. And if Alison needs anything, from a drill to a tent, she can borrow it from her neighbours. Overall, the scheme is estimated to save around 540 tonnes of CO2 every year (a single tonne of CO2 is equivalent to a 500 m3 hot air balloon).

Alison also highlighted the social aspects of co-housing. The scheme has been designed to enable residents to meet and interact. As well as sharing facilities, the residents get involved in communal activities, such as art, camping and wild swimming. They also work together and make decisions on the future development of the scheme.

Alison watched her mother grow old alone, and was determined that this shouldn’t happen to her. She feels supported by her neighbours, something that was especially important when her husband fell ill. Alison also spoke very movingly about another resident called Roger, who found support from the co-housing community in the final weeks of his life. As she explained: “Roger said he came to this co-housing scheme to die, but he didn’t. He actually came here to live.”

The pitfalls of co-housing

While Alison was keen to stress the attractions of co-housing, she also described the challenges. “Different people need different levels of social connections. Not everyone is keen to spend much time with their neighbours, and some prefer their privacy.” While decisions are taken together, reaching a consensus can take time, with general meetings sometimes getting heated. “Some bitter conflicts have fractured relationships, and some people have left.”

And although co-housing can reduce isolation, some residents have the impression that it will solve all their problems – “We’re neighbours, not carers or psychotherapists.”

Final thoughts

As things stand, co-housing schemes in the UK are too small to tackle the enormous challenges of the country’s housing shortage. But existing schemes demonstrate the great potential of this model of housing. And with more support from housing associations and local authorities, co-housing in the UK could really take off.

It was thanks to an imaginative collaboration between Hanover Housing Association and the Older Women’s Co-Housing group that the New Ground co-housing scheme became a reality. The housing association financed purchase of the land and construction of the properties, and the homes were presold or pre-let by the co-housing group before construction started.

Co-housing isn’t for everyone. It requires commitment from residents to participate in the management of a scheme, and to sacrifice some of their privacy for the benefit of their neighbours. This model of housing presents particular challenges, some of which might be hard to overcome. But the rewards of co-housing can be substantial.

Or, as Alison Cahn puts it: “When it works, it’s awesome.”

Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash

Further reading: more on housing from The Knowledge Exchange Blog