“The persistence of violence against women and girls, in both physical and digital environments, underscores the urgent need for a shift from reactive regulation to proactive, primary prevention.”
The case for investing in the prevention of men’s violence against women and girls has never been more pertinent yet the Governments measures to tackle VAWG have so far not focused on changing the online and offline environments where misogynistic and sexist attitudes continue to thrive.
The Case for Investing in Primary Prevention: Ending Men’s Violence Against Women was launched in Parliament this week. The report was funded by Open Societal Challenges at the Open University. The report, co-produced by the Centre for Protecting Women Online and White Ribbon UK, examines initiatives that reduce violence, highlights where current approaches fall short, and sets out clear recommendations for how the UK Government can meet its international obligations and make its commitment to halve VAWG within a decade achievable.
The report drew cross-party support, bringing together partners from across the ending violence against women and girls sector, academia, policing, and NGOs.
Professor Olga Jurasz, Director of the Centre for Protecting Women Online, said:
“The persistence of violence against women and girls, in both physical and digital environments, underscores the urgent need for a shift from reactive regulation to proactive, primary prevention. While emerging regulatory frameworks represent an important step toward improving online safety, they remain insufficient in addressing the structural, gendered and intersectional nature of online violence against women and girls. This report is a call for the Government to act now, to prevent, not just respond to, violence against women and girls online, and to promote a rights-based approach that recognises women’s and girls’ safety as fundamental to their full participation in digital spaces.”
The key recommendations on preventing online VAWG call on the Government to adopt a human rights-based approach to online safety, aligned with Council of Europe standards, strengthening the UK’s regulatory framework. The report also calls for strengthening regulation to hold technology platforms accountable for how their design features facilitate and profit from VAWG, addressing a key driver of online abuse. Requiring safety by design measures for all users, not just children, would recognise that platforms have the capability to implement these features but currently lack a legal mandate to do so.
The Centre for Protecting Women Online will continue to advocate for the Government’s implementation of standards set out in its international obligations under the Istanbul Convention and CEDAW to prevent online VAWG.
