The ENOUGH! campaign is an important step, sending a powerful message that violence against women and girls cannot go on, and that everyone has a role to play to stop it.
A new campaign aims to empowers individuals to challenge people who commit a range of abusive actions against women and girls, and raises awareness of what can be done if you experience, or witness, this abuse.
Forms of abuse can include domestic abuse (such as controlling or coercive behaviour), street harassment, unwanted touching, workplace harassment, so-called ‘revenge-porn’, cyberflashing, forced marriage, and stalking. These types of abuse can affect anyone and many of us will have witnessed it, whether it’s abuse by a partner, ex-partner, family member, colleague, friend, or stranger.
National statistics show that these issues disproportionately affect women and girls and that they continue to be all too common, with 1 in 5 women being victims of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault in their lifetime, over 27% of women having experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16, and 20% of women aged 16-74 having experienced stalking.
The Enough campaign, which forms part of the government’s Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, highlights a range of actions that can be taken if you witness abuse – including calling it out, showing support, or reporting it.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “For too long, the responsibility of keeping safe has been placed on the shoulders of women and girls. This campaign says enough, and recognises it is on all of us to demand major societal change. Everyone has a stake in this.
“Our new campaign shows that everyone can play a role in challenging abuse and making our country a safer place. By accepting all of the recommendations in the HMICFRS report I commissioned last year, the government and the police are doubling down to support victims and survivors and punish perpetrators.”
CEO of Karma Nirvana Natasha Rattu said: “We welcome the launch of ‘Enough’, which the Karma Nirvana team and survivor ambassadors contributed to. The campaign is an important step and sends a powerful message that violence against women and girls cannot go on, and everyone has a role to play to stop it.
“We are pleased to see the Home Office launch a communications campaign that raises awareness of the abuse women and girls can face on a daily basis, challenges perpetrators and empowers others to know how to safely intervene if they witness unacceptable abuse.”
Farah Nazeer, Chief Executive at national domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid, said: “Violence against women and girls is a spectrum, running from the everyday misogyny that is so prevalent, many people don’t even notice it, right through to horrifically violent crimes and murder.
“Campaigns like this by the Home Office are an important tool to raise awareness of sexist actions and language that have been tolerated for too long and normalise the treatment of women as objects.
“We will continue to keep working for the safety of women — until we no longer walk home in fear, whether it is the journey or the destination that holds the greatest danger – but we can’t do it alone. It’s also not enough that women must initiate and highlight the urgency of these conversations. We need ‘allyship’ to help bring about structural change.”
As part of the Enough campaign, a new website has been launched to provide further guidance around safe intervention and reporting of abuse, support for victims of abuse, and advice for people who recognise their behaviour needs to change. For more information, please visit www.gov.uk/enough.
