FOI - Mate Campaign

Dear Requester

Thank you for your request for information which the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) received on August 7. We apologise sincerely for any confusion caused in our original response. Please see our follow up response below.

I can confirm that your request has been being handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and that MOPAC does hold some information relating to your request.

You asked for:

With regard to the above statement could you please provide me with a copy of the evidence used by The Mayor to confirm that:

a) Violence against women & girls often starts with words.

and

b) Sexist comments, if not combatted early, can escalate over time to violence.

Our response:

Evidence from existing VAWG strategies:

The idea that sexist or misogynist attitudes and beliefs in society can be a contributing factor to violence against women and girls (VAWG) - and that addressing such societal and cultural norms is a vital part of preventing it - is widely accepted around the world. It is acknowledged in the Government's Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy Tackling violence against women and girls strategy - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-violence-against-women-and-girls-strategy , in the Council of Europe's Istanbul Convention on Violence Against Women and Girls https://coe.int/en/web/gender-matters/council-of-europe-convention-on-preventing-and-combating-violence-against-women-and-domestic-violence  - to which the United Kingdom is a signatory - and in the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/declaration-elimination-violence-against-women.

Collaboration with sector experts:

These themes are also recognised in the Mayor's comprehensive Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy. The Have a Word campaign is one small part of this Strategy to tackle VAWG and was developed in collaboration with experts and organisations from the violence against women and girls sector for input and review of all campaign material and considerations.

Strategic insights and steers, for example the fact that misogyny contributes to violence, were also provided to us based on research held by these sector experts and organisations.

Stakeholders consulted include:

•           Solace Women's Aid

•           Suzy Lampugh Trust

•           Survivors UK

•           Safer London

•           Victim Support

•           Respond

•           Advance

•           Cranstoun

•           Ashiana

•           Women's Resource Centre

•           The NHS

•           Nia Ending Violence

•           Women and Girls Network

•           Imkaan

•           End Violence Against Women

•           Asian Women's Resource Centre

•           Southall Black Sisters

•           Latin American Women's Aid

•           Rape Crisis South London

•           Women's Trust

•           Amourdestine

•           Refuge

•           Ashiana

•           Ava Project

•           Stay Safe East

•           Bel Eve UK

•           Ellas

Additionally, we consulted experts from the following local authorities: Havering, Richmond and Wandsworth, Lambeth, Ealing, Redbridge, Bexley, Lewisham, Bromley, and Hackney. We further consulted with representatives from the Children and Woman Abuse Studies Unit at London Metropolitan University

If you are unhappy with the response to your Freedom of Information request, please see the MOPAC website on what the next steps are at: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/mayors-office-policing-and-crime-mopac/governance-and-decision-making/freedom-information