Countries: United Kingdom
Variables: TRAFF-PRACTICE-3

“Thousands of trafficking victims have rejected the government’s support, many due to fear of the authorities or of being deported, lawyers have said. Nearly 6,000 trafficking victims rejected support from the government’s National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for victims of modern slavery last year, according to data based on research from the British Institute for International and Comparative Law and the Human Trafficking Foundation at the University of Oxford. Researchers found a range of reasons for this among respondents, including fear of traffickers, receiving support elsewhere, wanting to put things of being trafficked behind them and being reluctant to engage with UK authorities” (para 1-2). “Home Office freedom of information data...more

Countries: United Kingdom
Variables: TRAFF-LAW-3

"Thousands of trafficking victims have rejected the government’s support, many due to fear of the authorities or of being deported, lawyers have said. Nearly 6,000 trafficking victims rejected support from the government’s National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for victims of modern slavery last year" (Para 1-2). "Last month marked the 10th anniversary of the landmark Modern Slavery Act, pioneered by former prime minister Theresa May. In a parliamentary debate last month, Craig Murray MP said of the NRM, which has a significant backlog and takes an average of 831 days to process a trafficking case: 'The tool is currently all but broken down.' Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips said that 100 new...more

Countries: United Kingdom
Variables: NGOFW-DATA-1

"Esme Madill, a solicitor at the Migrant & Refugee Children’s Legal Unit, which has a project for young Albanian trafficking victims called Breaking The Chains" (Para 9).

Countries: United Kingdom
Variables: LRW-PRACTICE-1

"The UK government has revealed plans to chemically castrate paedophiles and sex criminals in Britain" (Para 1). This suggests that rape and sexual assault is a big problem (JS-CODER COMMENT). "'SSRIs also affect people psychologically - they provide people with more control over their sexual urges, compulsive behaviours and compulsive thinking" (Para 24). "There is already a growing body of evidence that treatment with anti-androgens or SSRIs can significantly reduce re-offending rates" (Para 39). "Ms Mahmood is also considering whether to make the measure mandatory, rather than voluntary" (Para 49).

Countries: United Kingdom
Variables: LRW-PRACTICE-2

"Ms Brook said she had been continuously singled out for speaking up and that her experience in the fleet destroyed her mental health, ultimately resulting in the mistakes that eventually ended her career" (Para 25). "I held secret meetings in hotel suites and hushed phone calls with sources who were terrified but desperate to speak" (Para 29). This suggests there are taboos against talking about or report sexual assult (JS-CODER COMMENT). "The problems were systemic – entrenched in the culture and often fiercely protected from scrutiny. The Navy seemed to go to extraordinary lengths to throw me off naming the senior officers implicated" (Para 31). "The senior officer involved was...more

Countries: United Kingdom
Variables: EWCMS-DATA-3

" it was my exposure of Sophie Brook's story in the Mail – telling of the misogyny and bullying she suffered serving on submarines – that triggered a two-year investigation and forced the Navy to admit abuse was endemic within the service" (Para 7). We can assume rape and assault in the military is not prosecuted very often (JS-CODER COMMENT). "She had made many of the complaints formally to superiors long before her dismissal" (Para 26). "The problems were systemic – entrenched in the culture and often fiercely protected from scrutiny. The Navy seemed to go to extraordinary lengths to throw me off naming the senior officers implicated" (Para 31)....more

Countries: United Kingdom
Variables: EWCMS-PRACTICE-3

"Last week, three submarine captains – all once lauded with OBEs and entrusted with the UK's nuclear deterrent – were quietly stripped of their honours following findings of gross misconduct. Reports suggest the allegations range from grotesque sexual harassment aboard a ballistic missile submarine to filming explicit videos onboard and presiding over regimes of calculated bullying" (Para 3-4). "'They'll never want my story to come out,' she had warned. 'It's an old boys' club… they're untouchable.' And I came quickly to understand exactly what she meant, given the extraordinary lengths to which those within the Royal Navy went in order to throw me off naming the culprits" (Para 20-21). "Ms...more

Countries: Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom
Variables: ERBG-PRACTICE-3

“On the top end of the range are Norway, Australia, and Sweden, with 24% to 27% of their senior leadership teams made up of women. In the middle we have the United Kingdom at 18% and France at 13%. On the bottom end of the range are Brazil, Germany, and Mexico with 8% women (although Germany is increasing quickly after implementing quotas), and then India at 5% and Japan at 3%” (para 7).

Countries: United Kingdom
Variables: ERBG-PRACTICE-2

“[L]aws originated from the British Mines and Collieries Act of 1842, which removed women from working in underground mines, due to a combination of genuine concern about the hazardous nature of the work and as a result of “moral panic” about men and women working together in dimly lit underground areas. The same act also prohibited the use of child labor in mining, due to the dirty and dangerous nature of the work. While children are inherently vulnerable and need protection (including from dangerous work), the conflation of women and children, and the view that both required the same kind of protection, has been an enduring rationale for harmful stereotyping...more

Countries: United Kingdom
Variables: LRW-DATA-1

"There were 214,816 recorded sex crimes in the year to September, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed, up eight per cent year-on-year. It included the highest-ever number of recorded rapes, with 74,265 - a seven per cent rise. The total number of sex crimes was equivalent to 588 incidents every day. In 2003 the figure stood at less than 57,000 reported sex crimes, and the continuing rise in offences has been put down to improved recording practices by police forces" (para 2-5). The table, titled "Sex crimes soar to record levels" shows steady levels of reported sex crimes hovering around 50,000 from 2003 to 2014 with a...more

Countries: United Kingdom
Variables: SEGI-PRACTICE-1

"Ms. Vasiliou [31 year-old woman, sister to Keisha Christodoulou who was killed by her husband] told the PA news agency that femicide and violence against women are not receiving 'the level of attention and care' they urgently need, and emphasised the necessity for more 'culturally specific services' for black women. She said: 'There needs to be more culturally specific services for black women where they feel safe to turn to. It also shows the lack of care and protection for marginalised communities. More advocacy and services specifically for black women, by black women is a must. I feel there need to be tougher laws against men committing violence or murder...more

Countries: United Kingdom
Variables: MURDER-DATA-1

"Of the 21 femicide victims recorded by the Met Police in 2022, nine were black as were eight of the 13 victims in 2023. Black women in London are said to be facing a 'crisis', with higher rates of femicide in the capital than other ethnic groups, figures suggest" (para 1-2). "Of the 21 femicide victims recorded by the Metropolitan Police in 2022, nine (43%) were black while eight of the 13 victims in 2023 (62%) were black. These figures suggest black women are being disproportionately targeted when compared with the ethnic breakdown of the female population of London, where just 14% are black, according to the 2021 census. By...more

Countries: United Kingdom
Variables: DV-PRACTICE-2

"After Ms Christodoulou’s [32-year-old mother of three] death, Ms. Vasiliou [31-year-old sister to Keisha Christodoulou] founded Keisha’s Place, an organisation dedicated to raising awareness about domestic abuse and its dangers, in honour of her sister" (para 18-19).

Countries: United Kingdom
Variables: MARR-LAW-7

"Whilst the practice is uncommon for most communities in the UK, cousins are legally allowed to marry... Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr. Syed [a Sunday Times Columnist] encouraged the UK to also place a ban of the practice: 'The UK should follow Scandinavia and ban cousin marriage, but perhaps the most powerful move would be to encourage developing nations to do the same" (para 21-23).

Countries: United Kingdom
Variables: MARR-PRACTICE-5

“Dame Jasvinder Sanghera, a campaigner against forced marriages, said: 'Without a shadow of a doubt, sex-selective abortions are going on. There are many reasons. There is still the practice of dowry, which means girls immediately become a financial burden” (para 8).