Moral obligation

The last several years have been a period of realisation for many that violence against women and girls (VAWG), especially sexual, is both everyday and elite. Following the MeToo movement; the appalling cases of Sarah Everard and Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman; the horrors of Jeffrey Epstein and his network; and the heinous sexual violence committed against Gisele Pelicot by her husband and dozens of other men, including her neighbours, there is now greater awareness of the nature, extent and ingrained characteristics of VAWG.  

 Women in the UK decried the hostility and curtailing of their freedom of movement in the campaign around the murder of Sarah Everard. The behaviour of the Metropolitan Police in the wake of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman’s killings highlighted the reach of racism and sexism into our state institutions, which we are constantly told are the guardians of our safety and systems of justice. The Pelicot case, though not in the UK, awakened many to the ease with which ‘ordinary’ men can participate in and adhere to a collective silence around raping a drugged woman – a neighbour, no less. In the UK, a former councillor has been charged, along with men associated with him, with multiple drug rape offences of his ex-wife.  We have no reason to think either case is exceptional. Jeffrey Epstein, whose name has been familiar to many of us working on sexualexploitation and child sexual abuse for decades, illustrates that powerful men have an appetite for sexual abuse, especially of girls, and like to party with like-minded men and revel in the networks and power that they share.      

 It is in the context of  increasing awareness of sexual abuse, both in our everyday lives and among our leaders, that the UK government launched its strategy on halving VAWG. The strategy was much-lauded and has many elements that should be welcomed: recognising freedom as central, extending the work beyond accountability – though that matters – and centring prevention are all valuable. Attending to education and health may also strengthen approaches. 

In 2025, along with Sara Hyde, I noted that while the government promised to half VAWG in 10 years, there is a pre-existing legal commitment to end it entirely – and an agreed global goal to do so by 2030. Eliminatingviolence means addressing all violence experienced by all women by promoting and fulfilling the right to be free of abuse.  International agreements and laws, to which the UK is a party, spell this out. While the aim of halving VAWG offers a target, it is not aligned with our international commitments and obligations.   

 I welcome that the strategy aims for ‘a UK where the right of women and girls to live free from abuse is a fundamental non-negotiable right, not a privilege‘. I wish the right to be free of violence – and how it can be delivered – featured more centrally, honouring our existing obligations.  Likewise, while there are several mentions of ending violence in the strategy, this is seen as a ‘moral’ objective (page 9) with scant acknowledgement that elimination is an international obligation to which the UK is committed and has been for decades.    

Sexual violence and exploitation, of which the public and politicians have become increasingly aware, demand a stronger response. Adult sexual exploitation will need to be defined robustly, and to address it, an uncompromising approach is urgent.  There is welcome mention of pornography and prostitution in the strategy, areas which have seen longstanding policy neglect and under-resourcing.  The legacy of the years in which these phenomena have grown and become embedded in everyday life and culture – including pornography in the lives of young people – is the dehumanisation of and harm done to women, particularly thewomen and girls who know intersecting inequalities. Much more needs to be done to target the demand that fuels this exploitation, support survivors including through a multiplicity of exit routes, and hold to account those who profit from such exploitation.  

Baroness Bertin’s recent amendment to the crime and policing bill, narrowly passed on 2 March in the House of Lords, seeks to prevent pornography sites from hosting videos portraying child abuse, trafficking and sexual violence.  The amendment also bars the publishing of pornographic videos in the absence, or withdrawal, of consent of those in it, with fines for platforms in violation of up to £18m or 10 per cent of their worldwide revenue.  This hard-nosed approach, targeting the proceeds of the sexual exploitation of women and girls, is long overdue, and has the potential to alter commercial behaviours – yet the government appears to be opposed to the amendment. 

As the country becomes increasingly cognisent of sexual violence and its reach, we must remain watchful and demanding of the government’s efforts, not just to halve VAWG, but, in accordance with its obligations, to end it – for all women and all girls.  

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