11 Dec 2024
Organised by UN Women, 16 Days of Activism is a global campaign fighting against gender-based violence. It begins every year on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and concludes on 10th December, Human Rights Day.
It is a crucial period for the organisations working with women and girls across our alliance – here's a selection of different launches and campaigns from across our membership this year.
Alongside leading family law chambers 4PB, solicitors MSB, and over 90 co-signatories (including ourselves), our member Birth Companions are urging for a review of the use of hair strand tests by the family courts.
There is significant reliance on hair strand testing in relation to drug and alcohol use in the family courts. However, there is a compelling body of evidence that shows the processes used to interpret these results are oversimplified and misleading. Concerningly, experts have highlighted that "you are more likely to lose custody of your child if you are African, Afro Caribbean or Asian based on drug testing alone, than if you are blonde or red haired.”
Child removal has devastating impacts on both women and children, as we highlighted in our recent briefing, ‘We Need Support’. Many women are involved in social services proceedings due to experiences of domestic abuse and violence themselves. Without urgent review, there is significant risk children are being wrongly removed from their families, with disproportionate impact on Black and Asian mothers.
Find out more about the Taking a Strand campaign.
Our members Safer London have launched See Beyond, a comprehensive toolkit designed for professionals working with young women in custody who have been exploited into harmful behaviours.
The way a young woman presents when they’re in custody doesn’t tell the full story. Too many young women in the criminal justice system in the UK have a history of violence, abuse or trauma which leads to their criminalisation - whether that’s being coerced into a crime or sexually exploited, or by using drugs or alcohol as a coping mechanism.
The toolkit offers resources to support practitioners to ask the questions they should be asking. By understanding, they could get a young woman the support she needs and protect her from the future harm.
Read more about the See Beyond toolkit.
The London Mayor is currently writing a new Rough Sleeping Plan of Action. This is an important opportunity to ensure that the needs of women are considered and met within London’s future provision and approach. We have responded to the Mayor of London’s call for evidence, in support of our member Solace Women's Aid's manifesto for tackling women's rough sleeping.
Alongside Single Homeless Project, they have produced a Manifesto for Change, which outlines 5 key areas which need immediate attention in relation to women who sleep rough.
In the context of 16 Days, it's important to remember that "women's rough sleeping is a complex societal problem that goes beyond rough sleeping and homelessness. It is a safeguarding and domestic abuse issue, a critical health issue, and, as the census has shown in relation to existing practices, an equality issue."
Read more about the Women’s Rough Sleeping Manifesto.
Our member Women for Refugee Women have been campaigning across 16 Days of Activism to end the harmful practice of detaining women seeking safety in the UK.
The UK has no time limit on immigration detention, meaning women are often locked up for weeks or months on end, with no sense of when they will be released. Women for Refugee Women’s research has shown that the majority of women in detention are survivors of rape and other gender-based violence.
Their Welcome Every Woman campaign is asking people to write to their MP, asking them to sign their letter to the Home Secretary demanding an end to the harmful practice of detaining women seeking safety in the UK.
Find out more and write to your MP on their website.
Our member Open Clasp have been screening their new filmed production, Mycelial, online throughout 16 Days. Open Clasp are a theatre company based in the North of England, who co-create theatre with women excluded by society for personal, social and political change.
This newest work explores the experiences of and connections between sex worker activists worldwide in their fight for justice, co-created with groups from the Aotearoa/New Zealand Sex Worker Collective, the Republic of Ireland and those in the North, along with groups in the North of England.
The production’s tour has been accompanied by post-screening panels, with support from National Ugly Mugs, who are also Agenda Alliance members.
Find out more about Mycelial, and watch it online until 17 December 2024 (International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers)
A new briefing paper published today by Agenda Alliance and Alliance for Youth Justice (AYJ) reveals the severe mental health problems facing young women in our prisons.
Engaging with young women, front-line staff and other experts to build an evidence base about the needs of girls and young women in contact with the criminal justice system.
In the first of a two-part blog, we hear from Loishana and her key-worker, Zoe, at Newham's pilot Youth to Adult hub, to hear in their own words why young women need a probation service that pays attention to their age and gender.
