Hounslow JSNA Factsheet VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS (VAWG)

Transcription

1 Introduction Hounslow JSNA Factsheet VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS (VAWG) The Home Office has adopted the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women s (CEDAW) definition of violence against women which is Violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately. In addition, the 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women includes.any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, psychological harm or suffering to women including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life Every year thousands of women and girls throughout the UK experience some form of violence including; rape, domestic violence, sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and trafficking. The impact of violence on women and girls has far reaching consequences for families, children, communities and society as a whole. Violence against women and girls is both a form of discrimination and a violation of human rights. Protecting women from violence and enabling them to protect themselves, either through the criminal justice system and through increased safety measures, gives women greater capacity to protect their children. Work on different areas of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) e.g. domestic violence and sexual violence (SV) has traditionally been undertaken separately. There is growing understanding and acceptance that VAWG is best tackled in a unified way. This has manifested itself in a range of national and regional documents: HM Government publication (previous administration) Together we can end violence against women and girls November 2009 Mayors of London s Strategy on Violence Against Women and Girls HM Coalition Government s publication. Department of Health Responding to violence against women and children the role of the NHS March 2010 These documents highlight the overlap between different areas of gender based violence and recommended that a holistic approach taken to tackling VAWG. VAWG brings together 8 strands of policy under one umbrella: Factsheet contact: Permjit Chadha LB Hounslow) 1

2 1. Domestic violence 2. Sexual violence 3. Stalking 4. Trafficking for sexual exploitation 5. Prostitution 6. Female genital mutilation 7. Honour based violence 8. Forced marriage This factsheet will focus on the last 7 strands in this list. Hounslow s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Material on Domestic Violence is documented in a separate factsheet 1 The Local Picture Sexual Violence The table below indicates an increase in rape and non-rape serious sexual offences in Hounslow, and a drop in sanctioned detections for these offences. This is echoed by the volumes of sexual offences and rape being recorded in London overall at historically high levels. Offence/ Year: FY 08/09 FY 09/10 FY 10/11 FY 11/12 Number of rape offences Number of rape sanctioned detections Number of non-rape serious sexual offences Number of non-rape serious sexual offences sanctioned detections The West London Rape Crisis Centre (WLRCC) provides counselling and advocacy services to women who have experienced recent or historic sexual violence, including child sexual abuse, rape, prostitution, sexual assault, sexual harassment, gang related sexual violence, sexual bullying and sexual exploitation. 1 Hounslow JSNA-2014 Domestic Violence Factsheet Factsheet contact: Permjit Chadha LB Hounslow) 2

3 A total of 35 referrals were received by the WLRCC, where 60% of all referrals main presenting issue was rape and 37% presenting with childhood sexual abuse. There has been a marked increase in referrals of 47% in compared to An on-going issue remains the continued increase of women accessing the service who have also been diagnosed with mental health issues, in a number of cases women have been discharged from mental health services into care of their GPs. These women who are often referred by GPs to IAPT services who in turn are referring them on to WLRCC for longer term work to allow women to address abuse, often chronic childhood sexual abuse. The challenges for WLRCC is these are women with entrenched and complex needs, many women express frustration and distress at what they perceived as the lack of meaningful support they received for their mental health needs. Once such clients have completed treatment with WLRCC they are often highly motivated to change and move forward with their lives however there is a lack of aftercare that women are able to access that for those with an added vulnerability of mental health needs find it challenging to sustain the benefits of counselling and will seek to access our services repeatedly. There has been a steady increase in the number of referrals of women from Black, Asian, Minority, Ethnic and Refugee (BAMER) communities accessing services and disclosing experiences of sexual exploitation and childhood sexual abuse. During there was an increase of women who have disclosed stranger rape, more so than any other of the boroughs the WLRCC provide services in. The WLRCC has seen an increase in referrals for women who presenting with more complex or multiple issues and are proving more resource intensive, this included women who are long term patients in mental health care, young women with eating disorders and young clients with suicidal ideation with intent. Sex Workers There are estimated to be around 80,000 people involved in prostitution in the UK (Home Office, 2009), however, most people believe that this figure is an underestimation. A Hard Knock Life (2008) and Eaves Information Sheet: Prostitution both cite studies which record the high level of violence experienced by women involved in prostitution. Six women involved in prostitution are murdered each in the UK (the murder rate is 18 times higher than that of the general population). The Mayor of London s Mayoral Strategy on Violence Against Women and Girls established: Women in street prostitution are 12 times more likely to be murdered than the rate for all women in the same age group in the UK Factsheet contact: Permjit Chadha LB Hounslow) 3

4 More than half of women in prostitution have been raped and at least 75% have been physically assaulted at the hands of the pimps and punters There were 447 trafficking for exploitation offences reported to the Metropolitan Police Service in , a significant increase from 32 offences from A report published in 2008 found women and girls to be disproportionately sexualised across the media and popular culture and that a driving factor behind this is the mainstreaming of the sex industries, in particular pornography, lap dancing and prostitution (Object 2008). Research compiled by the Home Office (Home Office, 2004b) shows that across the UK a significant percentage of women first become involved in prostitution before their 18 th birthday. The most comprehensive mapping exercise of commercial sex industry in London was carried out by Eaves Housing for Women in The findings estimated that there were between 2972 and 5861 selling sex from flats, parlours and saunas; and between 1755 and 2221 women selling sex as escorts. Four of out five women working in London brothels are believed to be foreign nations. Historically Hounslow has had issues regarding brothels but recently has experienced its first on street prostitution. This is partly believed to be due to sex workers and those who seek to solicit their services have been displaced from the neighbouring borough of Ealing. The London Borough of Ealing adopted a zero tolerance policy to tackle the issue having experienced an active street based prostitution problem for a number of years, some of whom it is believed have been trafficked from Eastern Europe to work within the sex industry. The data we have is not comprehensive, but the Council Police Team have recorded: 46 women sex workers stopped between July 2012 and November 2013 in Hounslow, all of which were from Romania. The average aged was 25, with youngest aged 19 and the oldest aged 33. Of these17 (36%) of the women resided in Slough. Sex workers known to professionals in Hounslow have all been women but that does not mean there are not male sex workers in the borough. The sex workers in Hounslow reside outside the borough, from neighbouring boroughs such as Slough, which makes advocacy difficult. However, there is a Cross Borough Prostitution Strategy Group meeting at which Hounslow works with Ealing, Hillingdon and Slough to address the issues. The women and girls involved in prostitution in Hounslow show no signs of substance misuse at present but this may develop as an issue in the future. Sex workers in brothels operating in Hounslow are not necessarily born in Britain or are British nationals. Factsheet contact: Permjit Chadha LB Hounslow) 4

5 Figure 1, below, is a combined map of the known locations for sex workers as well as the brothel closures carried out within the London Borough of Hounslow. The Pink shared circles are the locations of where sex workers were stopped by the Council Police Team. The larger the circle is indicates that there were a higher number of sex workers seen on that particular area. There was one location that a sex worker was seen which is outside the borough but was close enough to be included in this map. The Green diamonds on the map indicate the vicinity of a known brothel that was closed in partnership with the Police and Council. This does not include any brothels that have been closed solely by the Police. Figure 1. Female Genital Mutilation Female Genital Mutilation involves the complete or partial removal or alteration of external genitalia for non-medical reasons. It is mostly carried out on young girls at some time between infancy and the age of 15. Unlike male circumcision, which is legal in many countries, it is now illegal across much of the globe, and its extensive harmful health consequences are widely recognised. (Mayor of London, 2010) At a global level, an estimated million girls and women have experienced female genital mutilation and up to 3 million girls undergo some form of the procedure each year (WHO, 2008). Factsheet contact: Permjit Chadha LB Hounslow) 5

6 Up to 2013 there had been no convictions in UK for FGM since it was criminalised, compared to 100 in France 2. Although FGM is incorporated into child protection, at present no data is collected on the number of type of social work cases involving FGM in the UK. There is very limited data available in Hounslow. Locally, Midwifery Services at West Middlesex University Hospital hold some data on FGM, see table below. They record figures on the numbers for those in whom the FGM affected their pregnancy care i.e. they had it opened in antenatal period or had some extra care/problem at delivery but do not record figures for women who have their FGM opened prior to pregnancy. West Middlesex University Hospital women in whom FGM affected their pregnancy care: Year Number of women identified The above data does not provide an accurate picture on the volume of women giving birth affected by FGM, as consideration would need to be given to Hounslow women who have not given birth at West Middlesex University Hospital. Also the data provided does not specific if the women were Hounslow residents either. It has also been difficult to estimate the number of girls and women affected or likely to be affected by FGM. For example, a 2010 study called Understanding Somali s Communities in Hounslow & Hillingdon. A PEER study conducted for Hounslow & Hillingdon Local Authorities highlighted the difficulty in trying to establish the number of Somali s living in Hounslow. Below is an attempt to estimate the number of girls and women affected or likely affected by using various data sets. It is worth noting, the estimates used below are unlikely to provide an accurate account of the numbers affected and is most likely to be under estimated. The first data set is using the Children s Commissioner, 2011 Multi-agency Practice Guidelines: Female Genital Mutilation), which outlines the countries with the highest prevalence of FGM amongst women aged years are: Somalia (97.9%) Egypt (911%) Guinea (95.6%) Sudan (90%) Sierra Leone (94%) Eritrea (88.7%) 2 The Way Forward: A call for action to end violence against women Factsheet contact: Permjit Chadha LB Hounslow) 6

7 Djibouti (93.1%) Mali (85.2%) The practice is also prevalent in The Gambia (78.3%) and Ethiopia (74.3%). The first is using school data. The way in which information is collected on language and ethnicity of school students means that we cannot assess exactly which countries students come from. For the purpose of this exercise, the proposal has summarised those languages or ethnicities that are clearly matched to a country with a high prevalence of FGM. For example, categories of languages such as French, Arabic, and English are spoken by many different countries, so using these for this exercise would not be accurate. This is similarly the case for broad ethnicity categories such as Black African. Therefore, the analyses below will reflect many, but not all high prevalence FGM countries listed above. The table below include 13 of 14 Hounslow s 14 secondary schools (Isleworth and Syon School for Boys has been excluded as there are no female students). By language Figure 2: Speakers of languages of countries with high prevalence of FGM/C at Hounslow secondary schools, 2012 The languages above are spoken in the high prevalence countries of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia and Djibouti. The schools with the greatest number of speakers are Lampton School Academy (58) students, Heston Community School (51) and Rivers Academy West London (48 students). Factsheet contact: Permjit Chadha LB Hounslow) 7

8 Figure 3: Students with recorded ethnicity of countries with high prevalence of FGM/C at Hounslow secondary schools, 2012 The ethnicities above correlate to the high prevalence countries of Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan and Egypt. Not surprising, the figure above does not mirror that for language spoken. The secondary schools in Hounslow with the greatest number of students whose ethnicity corresponds to countries with a high prevalence of FGM are Cranford Community College (152 students), Chiswick Community School (136 students), and The Heathland School (100 students). 3 The second data set used is maternity figures. The table below uses data from the FORWARD report conducted in 2007 in partnership with London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Department of Midwifery at City University, which was funded by the Department of Health. The authors used in 2001 Census to assess numbers of women born in practising countries. They note that this method was not ideal as it omitted the second generation of women who were born in the UK but who may have undergone FGM, and assumed that the prevalence of FGM practising migrant or refugee populations in the UK was the same as their countries of origin. This report showed that there were an estimated 752 maternities to women who were likely to have undergone in Hounslow from 2001 to In 2004 the table shows that an estimated 6.17% pregnancies were to women with FGM compared with 6.3% for Inner London and 1.43% at a national level. In absolute terms, over the 4 year period at a national level the estimated number of maternities to women with FGM increased by 44% but the rates of increase across London were 3 Sigrid Ryan (2013): Hounslow secondary schools with students from countries that have a high prevalence (>85%) of female genital mutilation/cutting Factsheet contact: Permjit Chadha LB Hounslow) 8

9 much lower (30% for Greater London and 23% for Inner London). In Hounslow however, there was an increase of 38%. Likewise, Hounslow experienced a greater increase in the estimated percentages of all maternities to women with FGM over the period (from 5.18% to 6.17%) than both regional and national averages. In 2004, Hounslow had the 10 th highest modelled percentage of maternities to women with FGM in London. Estimated number of maternities to women with FGM and percentage of all maternities to women with FGM by region for local authorities where percentage exceeds 1%, England and Wales, Total No. % No. % No. % No. % England Wales Greater London Inner London & 6, , , , ,487 4, , , , ,235 2, , , , ,235 Hounslow Honour Based Violence and Forced Marriage Violence committed to protect or defend the honour of a family and/or community. Women, especially young women, are the most common targets, often where they have acted outside community boundaries of perceived acceptable feminine/sexual behaviour. In extreme cases the woman may be killed. Mayor of London, 2010 At a national level, honour crimes are not separated out from other forms of violence in official crime figures nor have been separately or comprehensively recorded by any agency, making it likely that they are even more under-reported than other forms of domestic violence (The Select). Committee on Home Affairs Sixth report notes how Home Office figures suggest there around 12 honour killings, the most extreme form of honour based violence, a year, but as honour -based violence is often hidden problem with criminal justice system, killings are often disguised as an accident or suicide, so this figure is almost certainly too low. 4 Hounslow s Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy Factsheet contact: Permjit Chadha LB Hounslow) 9

10 Organisations working with honour -based violence victims also report that often families drive women to suicide (often setting themselves alight) by applying psychological pressure. The Metropolitan Police is undertaking a review of 109 cases of murder, suicide and missing persons over a 10 year period across the country. As of summer 2007, 21 cases of previously unrecognised honour killings had been identified. In the same way there are reliable figures for non-fatal incidents of violence in the name of honour, but community-based organisation Karma Nirvana sees around 15 cases a week of honour related violence, including forced marriage. The Metropolitan Police recorded 256 incidents in the year 2008/9, of which were criminal offences. This is a 60 per cent rise for the year to April (Mayor s Strategy, 2010). In Hounslow, since 2008 the number of incidents of Honour Based Violence and Forced Marriage in Hounslow has risen, but alarmingly the number of offences has decreased. In 2010/11 there were only 12.5% of incidents became offences. Incidents and Offences for Honour Based Violence, Forced Marriage for Hounslow Honour Based Violence Forced Marriage Financial Year Incidents Offences Incidents Offences 2008/ / / /12* * FY 2011/12 is an incomplete financial year. Data is only to 31/10/2011 Trafficking Trafficking involves the recruitment, transportation and exploitation of women and children for the purposes of prostitution and domestic servitude across international borders and within countries (internal trafficking) Mayor of London, The Mayor s strategy 2010 quotes figures of 1,000 and 10,000 women and girls that are trafficked into the UK each for sexual exploitation, and notes that many are trafficked to or through London. Around 6,000 of the estimated 8,000 women involved in off-street prostitution in London s brothels, saunas and massage parlours are foreign nations. It is believed that a significant number of them have been trafficked. Factsheet contact: Permjit Chadha LB Hounslow) 10

11 There have also been attempts to gauge the extent of internal trafficking. A survey by Barnardo s identified 76 people who had been trafficked internally and nearly half of them trafficked in London (Internal Trafficking final report 2007). 5 In 2003, the POPPY project was set up as a pilot project with support from the Home Office to provide accommodation and support for women aged 18+ who have been trafficked to the UK, sexually exploited and forced to work in prostitution. In 2007, the Project established an outreach team to meet the increased demand for its service. To date more than 700 women have been referred to the POPPY Project (website accessed 11/01/10). In 2004, the POPPY Project conducted a survey of off-street prostitution (i.e. those working in flats, massage parlour and saunas) in London, where it found that 79% of such sex workers were foreign nationals. Given that 8,000 women are believed to work off-street prostitution in London, POPPY s survey gives a figure of about 6,000 foreign nationals, a large percentage of whom the POPPY Project believes to have been trafficked. Stalking Repeated (i.e. on at least two occasions) harassment causing fear, alarm or distress. It can include threatening phone calls, texts or letter; damaging property; spying on and following. Mayor of London, The British Crime survey shows that 20% of women have experienced stalking at some point since the age of 16, and within the last year 4.4% of women had been stalked. These figures are slightly lower 22% and 5.9% respectively) than those for the last survey in which data was collected on stalking (2006-7) It has not been possible to locate any London data. Strategies and services The work surrounding violence against women and girls (VAWG) is addressed in the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy This work is reported to the Hounslow Community Safety Partnership Board, which has the responsibility to implement the borough s community safety strategy. The strategy is delivered through annual action plans overlooked by the multi-agency VAWG Strategy Group. The focus since 2012 has been domestic violence, sexual violence, sex workers and female genital mutilation. 5 Factsheet contact: Permjit Chadha LB Hounslow) 11

12 Currently, there are two main providers for domestic violence services, Refuge provision (safe houses) including Floating Support and the Eastern European Project (this also covers Brent and Hillingdon) and the Hounslow Domestic Violence Outreach Service (as part of EACH). The West London Rape Crisis Centre is available for Hounslow women and girls, with the main centre in Ealing and a satellite delivered from the Heart of Hounslow. Additionally, funding was secured from the Mayor s Office for Policing and Crime to have a dedicated Independent Sexual Violence Advocate for the borough, who is colocated at Chiswick Police station. A Cross Borough Prostitution Working Group is in operation and has recently agreed a Sex Worker Strategy for the borough. In addition to this, the Community Safety Partnership agreed funding for a Sex Worker Support Project. The project will support women (both British and those trafficked) to exist prostitution and ensure enforcement action is taken against those paying for sex and those allowing prostitution to take place. This will be in place approximately by early July A small multi-agency working group have been meeting to address female genital mutilation (FGM). This has resulted in funding secured from the Community Safety Partnership, Public Health and the Local Safeguarding Children s Board to deliver a project specifically on FGM. This will include developing a community champion s project, focusing on educating communities on the criminality of FGM practices, as well as, highlighting the physical and mental impact on girls and women who have undergone FGM. There will also be a focus on training and up skilling professionals on FGM. It is hoped the project will be in place by summer Recommendations Working to address violence against women and girls in a unified approach is a fairly new for the borough i.e. since Some good work has been undertaken in partnership with both statutory and voluntary sectors. However, there is much more that can be done so the needs of victims of violence against women and girls are met. This also extends to, more work required to reduce women and girls becoming victims in the first place and those who are victims, are protected from repeat incidents. There are gaps in the knowledge of professionals on recognising signs, as well as how to work with the victims from the various VAWG strands. It is recommended, a specific training programme addressing VAWG is implemented and rolled out across the borough. For example, staff in IAPT 6 and mental health working with victims affected 6 IAPT: Improving Access to Psychological Therapies team Factsheet contact: Permjit Chadha LB Hounslow) 12

13 by sexual violence and rape should be up-skilled to provide specialist support needed before being discharged to other services. Certain strands of VAWG have developed referral pathways whereas others have not. It is recommended a referral pathway is developed for each strand, for example, a referral pathway is needed between sexual health/gums and the West London Rape Crisis Centre. A significant amount of specialist frontline services supporting victims of VAWG in Hounslow are charities or voluntary sector organisations. These groups are often financially under-resourced trying to meet high demands, taking substantial pressure of statutory services. It is crucial that these services are awarded long term funding and funding is adequate to meet the needs of the victims. Additional Appendix/reference material 1. LB Hounslow: Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy HM Government Home office Together we can end violence against women and girls November gov.uk/documents/vawg-strategy-2009/index.html 3. HM Government 2014 Policy Ending Violence against women and girls in the UK Factsheet updated June 2014 Factsheet contact: Permjit Chadha LB Hounslow) 13