The following is a statement from members of the NCAFC Women’s Committee on the behaviour of Committee member Fiona Edwards at NCAFC Conference (Liverpool, 28-28 January). [Read more...]

Friday 25th November marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC) Women’s group, alongside the National Union of Students (NUS) Women’s Campaign, is calling for a day of student action against cuts to women’s services, particularly violence prevention services like women’s refuges.

However, under the government’s austerity measures, many of the cuts will affect women’s liberation in a massive way. This ranges from cuts and reforms to benefits (single parents, mostly women, stand to lose the most – 18 per cent of their total income); to cuts in nursery and nursing home provision (the burden of this care will mostly fall on women); and the one hundred per cent cuts to humanities teaching budget in HE (subjects mostly taught by women).

We are asking women’s groups and anti-cuts activists to take part in this action to raise awareness, and campaign against these cuts, that harm women and increase the risk of violence.

So, what to campaign on?

Local cuts to women’s refuges and outreach services; rape crisis centres; nurseries, etc.

On campus cuts to courses; nurseries; jobs; pastoral services, etc.

How to campaign?

Spread the word by holding demonstrations; occupations; leafleting; petitioning, etc. Raise awareness in whatever means is most appropriate within your local area or group.

Demands:

• Attacks on public services are attacks women’s liberation
• Stop the cuts; tax the rich to pay for services
• For universal access to refuges and outreach services; stop cuts to these services
• For women’s services including rape crisis centres and refuges in every local authority
• For flexible, free and universal nursery provision; stop cuts to these services on campus and off
• For flexible, free and universal education for women in FE and HE; stop cuts in education and reintroduce grants

N.B. If you would like to take part in this action please let us know, send in reports, and we’ll add them to the NCAFC Women’s webpage.

We’ll also be researching where cuts are taking place across the country, let us know if you need our help to source women’s services cuts in your local area.

Contact Jade Baker of NUS Women’s Committee at jadeloribaker@ymail.com
or Aimee Kent-Payne, NCAFC Women’s Officer at aemkp@hotmail.co.uk

Information on Domestic Violence:

Half of all women who are victims of domestic violence will no longer qualify for legal aid under government proposals, according to charity Domestic Violence Intervention Project. The Women’s Insitute has warned more women living in abusive relationships will be killed or driven to suicide if the government pushes through planned cuts to legal aid …. the evidence is clear, women are bearing the brunt of cuts: Do something about it: take part in our Day of Action on the 25th November.

It’s estimated that around one in four women suffer from some form of Domestic Violence in their lifetime, and yet, for such a large proportion of the population, only one in four local authorities has any women’s specific services.

This year alone the rate of sexual crimes has increased in London alone by 25 per cent and it’d known that in time of societal and economic crisis, not only are women hit the hardest by financial and domestic burdens, but they are subject to increased violence too.

Taking this all in, it is absolutely absurd that this government would cut back on provision from DV services, by 50 to 100 per cent in some cases, when they are needed more than ever.

In the same instance, Black, Minority and ethnic (BME) women’s DV services are dropping like flies due to government attempts to “streamline” women’s services. A report published in 2007 ‘Commission on Integration and Cohesion’ stated specialised funding, for particular ethnic or religious groups fosters “ a sense of separation” and is “a hangover from old identity politics”. They believe that the way to achieve “cohesion” is to create, run of the mill, generalised services.

Yet, this fails to take into account the unequal social, economic and cultural context that make it difficult or impossible for BME women to access services. Professor Amrit Wilson, of Imkaan says: “BME women in generic refuges often face racism from other clients or staff and their cultural needs are not met.”

The landscape of DV service cuts, like refuge and outreach support, looks like this:

Refuges, a vital lifeline and safe haven for women and children, have already shut down and faced cuts in Weymouth, Croydon and the Isle of Wight.

Further to this, DV services across a plethora of local authorities have been told, or are already facing, cuts of 50 to 100 per cent. These are in Devon, Hull, North Somerset, Nottinghamshire (who have one of the highest rates of DV) and London. Bradford, Burnley, Essex and Newcastle have been told they’re under threat too.

Women’s Aid has found out that more than a third (37 per cent) of services say they will close or either face risk of closure. It also found out that a further third of services had been given no information about future funding at all.

Moving to specialised services; in 2008 only 40 of 4000 refuge support services were dedicated to BME women, including 28 Asian refuges. An Imkaan report, ‘A right to Exist’, revealed that at least seven BME providers had been taken over by larger providers.

To top all this off, the report ‘End Violence Against Women’, found that fewer than one in ten councils had specialised services for BME women to deal with issues such as forced marriage, female genital mutilation and domestic violence.

The future for women’s liberation looks very bleak; hundreds of women will now be subject to violence and not have anywhere to turn. DV service availability will drastically drop due to cuts, hoards of jobs will go in this area too, and the quality of the service will suffer.

Violence against women will as a consequence become more endemic than it already is. Women students are not, and will not, be exempt from this

The NUS Women’s Campaign lunched the Hidden Marks survey and found that 1 in 7 women students had been the victim of serious sexual or physical assault, and only ten per cent of women who had been seriously sexually assaulted, reported it.

Integral to the fight against domestic violence towards women, is raising awareness and creating hard hitting campaigns in institutions such as our universities and colleges.

Alongside a successful and reinvigorating national conference on Saturday, NCAFC Women held a caucus where we discussed how we can build women’s involvement and participation in the campaign more broadly and our first action – taking the anti-cuts message to Slutwalk!

• NCAFC Women at national conference

As the campaign voted to create national structures five women were elected to the national steering committee:

Claire Locke, London Met president-elect

Eshe Asante, London Met

Alice Swift, Birmingham

Clare Lister, Birmingham

Jade Baker, Westminster, NUS Women’s Committee

This is brilliant news and an important first step to increasing women’s representation in NCAFC. (Thanks also to Edinburgh who raised the question of women’s representation with an amendment to the national structures motion calling for at least five women to be elected to the committee).

We need to look now at how we can increase women’s participation in the broader campaign, and make our voice heard. Our discussions in the caucus also highlighted the need to look at how accessible, inclusive and representative NCAFC is generally of oppressed groups and how we can work across the campaign to improve this.

• Where next for NCAFC Women?

Please join discussion on our email list or contact Esther on esthertownsend2023@yahoo.com / 07883520852 to be added

and on our facebook page.

Alongside increasing the involvement of women and other oppressed groups in NCAFC we’d like to start to build links with other feminist, and women’s anti-cuts groups nationally – organise meetings and skills shares.

Slutwalk: We’d like to share information about if people are planning to attend a Slutwalk march, and if so which one so we can link up and go together. We’ve made a start organising an anti-cuts contingent on the London march, 11 June (everyone welcome) but it would be great to do this on other marches too. We’re calling on other anti-cuts, feminist and women’s groups to join us on this contingent.

At NUS Women’s Conference (15-17 March), NCAFC supporter Jade Baker will be standing against Labour Students candidate Estelle Hart for NUS National Women’s Officer. [Read more...]