Former Newsnight editor Peter Rippon’s casual dismissal of Jimmy Savile’s victims as “just the women” in his now notorious email to producer Meirion Jones, pretty much encapsulates the attitudes that have persisted towards the survivors of Savile’s abuse ever since. * * * Yes that’s right, the survivors, remember them? * * * Just in case anyone’s forgotten, what’s prompted the current crisis at the BBC is the revelation that for decades Jimmy Savile raped and abused countless young women and girls. In fact it’s now believed that Savile could well turn out to have been one of the country’s most prolific paedophiles; a man who created and starred in TV shows and charity events not out of any sense of wanting to entertain or…
Posts from the “the meeja” Category
Because so many people who should know better have been getting it so so wrong over the past few weeks, and because like many feminists I’ve just about reached my limit as to how much more victim blaming and ignorance I can tolerate before I completely explode, here’s a handy cut out and keep guide to some of the things that rape categorically isn’t. * * * Rape is not any of the following: * * * Surprise sex or sex by surprise In December 2010 Julian Assange’s lawyer, Mark Stephens, informed AOL that contrary to what people had heard, Assange was not wanted in Sweden for questioning about allegations of rape, but for something he termed ‘sex by surprise.’…
This is the text of the speech I delivered last night at the Cambridge Reclaim the Night rally in King’s Chapel: Good evening everyone; and can I just congratulate Ruth and the organisers for yet another great turnout. As some of you may remember, I came and spoke at the anti-Strauss-Kahn event, and there was a really impressive turnout for that one as well. Speaking of which, I take it you’ve all heard the latest about the eminent former International Monetary Fund chief? I take it you’ve all heard that not only has his claim for diplomatic immunity over the alleged sexual assault of Nafissatou Diallo in New York been rejected so the civil case can now proceed to trial; not only is he…
Last Friday Wales and Sheffield United striker Ched Evans was convicted of rape and given a five year sentence. By Sunday lunchtime the hashtag #justiceforched had started trending on Twitter, and not only had the victim in the case been subjected to some of the most heinous misogynist abuse imaginable, she’d also, in complete contempt of UK law which grants lifetime anonymity for rape survivors, been publicly named. A quick glance through the hashtag feed (if you can stomach it) shows how rape culture is alive and well in this country. It also shows how completely ignorant so many people are of the laws on rape, specifically the Sexual Offences Act 2003, and the statutory definition of consent that’s contained within it: “Section 74…
This is the text of a speech I delivered today as part of Warwick University’s International Women’s Week. The event was also live blogged on the Student Journals site – here. Hello, and many thanks to the organisers for inviting me to speak at this event. I hope you have a really successful International Women’s Week. Okay, let’s have a look at some statistics. I’ll start with Westminster. According to the most recent figures from Fawcett, men now outnumber women 4 to 1 in Westminster. In fact only 22% of MPs are women, 22% of peers are women, and 17% (20 out of 119) of government ministers are women. In local politics, while 31% of elected councillors are women, only 13% of local authority…
Categories: campaigning, feminism, gender, sexism, the big P, the boy's club, the cuts, the meeja, trade unions
