tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/rotherham-13998/articlesRotherham – The Conversation2020-01-20T15:49:23Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1300992020-01-20T15:49:23Z2020-01-20T15:49:23ZAsian grooming gangs: how ethnicity made authorities wary of investigating child sexual abuse<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/310687/original/file-20200117-118347-k9slp1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/lonely-girl-city-danger-159177017">Shutterstock/tommaso79</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the UK, the debate around so-called Asian grooming gangs and the sexual threat they pose to vulnerable white girls shows no sign of abating. A leaked report produced by the <a href="https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/">Independent Office for Police Conduct</a> (IOPC) has upheld a complaint made by a father whose daughter had been missing for a week. He said a police officer told him that <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/18/rotherham-police-did-not-do-enough-protect-girls-abuse-asian/">Rotherham “would erupt”</a> if it came out that Asian men were habitually having sex with underage white girls. </p>
<p>The five-year investigation conducted by the IOPC, codenamed Operation Lindon, has produced a highly critical report. It states that the South Yorkshire police were scared to take action against a group of Asian men who were sexually abusing a young girl for fear of triggering unrest in the Asian community and being branded racist. Instead, they did little to disrupt the gang and safeguard the vulnerable victim and other young girls, even though they knew they were being subjected to horrendous sexual abuse. </p>
<p>South Yorkshire police has <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/police-chief-we-ignored-sex-abuse-of-children-hgrhc358v">accepted the findings</a> of the report and said it has been developing a “far deeper understanding” of child sexual exploitation since 2014. It will now await the full and final report, which will focus on the actions of its former senior command team and whether it deliberately turned a blind eye to what it knew was happening. </p>
<p>This is something the media has been suggesting for many years due to the explosive mix of sex, race and excessive political correctness. The Times has even claimed there was a “<a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/crime/article2863058.ece">conspiracy of silence on UK sex gangs</a>”. The leaked IOPC report came just days after yet another <a href="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/paedophile-grooming-gang-left-roam-17562300">scathing report</a> was published, this time in Manchester, about the abject failure of the police and children’s services to protect vulnerable young girls from Asian grooming gangs there.</p>
<h2>Cultural sensitivities</h2>
<p>In 2011 Jack Straw, the former home secretary, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12142177">suggested</a> there was a cultural element to the then new phenomenon of “grooming gangs” and suggesting some men of Pakistani origin see white girls as “easy meat”. The former Blackburn Labour MP spoke out after two Asian men who abused girls in Derby were given indeterminate jail terms. At the time, he was quickly shouted down and labelled a racist. It was even suggested that his comments were an attempt to influence a pending Oldham by-election. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/blamed-for-being-abused-an-uncomfortable-history-of-child-sexual-exploitation-82410">Blamed for being abused: an uncomfortable history of child sexual exploitation</a>
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<p>Despite the continuous flow of cases – other examples were in <a href="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/all-about/rochdale-grooming-scandal">Rochdale</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-46945043">Oxford</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jun/10/report-evidence-of-huddersfield-grooming-ring-not-followed-up">Huddersfield</a>) – the public is constantly being reminded that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/11/84-per-cent-of-grooming-gangs-are-asians-we-dont-know-if-that-figure-is-right">it is not just Asian men</a> who commit “on-street” child sexual exploitation. </p>
<p>Clearly this type of sexual exploitation is not exclusive to Asian/Pakistani men. Nevertheless, given the severity of these offences and long term impact they have on young people’s lives, it is important to question whether there are cultural elements influencing how perpetrators see young white girls.</p>
<p>As a criminologist and former senior detective I have interviewed numerous second generation Asian-Pakistani men convicted of grooming and sexually abusing young vulnerable white girls. The majority claimed they were innocent and put forward theories of how the government, police, judges and witnesses had conspired to wrongly convict them. It was also clear that they did not see their victims as children and therefore did not consider themselves to be sex offenders. </p>
<p>An example of this mindset was the leader of the Rochdale grooming gang, Shabir Ahmed, who <a href="https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/rochdale-grooming-white-jury-appeal-11959904">failed to overturn his convictions</a> at the European Court of Human Rights by claiming an all-white jury was part of a conspiracy to scapegoat Muslims. During his trial Ahmed repeatedly accused the judge, the jury, and the police of being part of a racist conspiracy against Muslims and said: “It’s all white lies.” The story (focusing on the victims in this case) was subsequently made into the BBC drama Three Girls.</p>
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<p>Many of the offenders I have spoken to were also involved – or on the fringes of – low-level crime, most commonly drug dealing and theft. They tended to lack victim empathy and had a habit of trying to taint victims by suggesting they lied about their age or were already drug addicts and/or sexually promiscuous.</p>
<p>The victims of child sexual exploitation in these cases were targeted because they were considered “available” by their circumstance and behaviour: they were in care, truanting from school, drinking alcohol, taking drugs, staying out late at night or being overtly sexual. The vast majority of victims were underage white girls. Their perceived availability and vulnerability led the perpetrators to believe, rightly, that these girls were unlikely to tell anyone what was happening to them. </p>
<p>When it comes to child sexual exploitation, grooming takes on a series of behaviours designed to ensure secrecy, increase victim compliance, build rapport and avoid detection. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0964663906066613">Extensive research</a> tells us that these tactics make sexual abuse much <a href="https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?q=(Bennett+%26+Donohue,+2014)&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholar">more likely</a>. </p>
<h2>Abandoned victims</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-51093159">Review</a> after <a href="https://www.nscb.org.uk/sites/default/files/Final%20JSCR%20Report%20160218%20PW.pdf">review</a> has found that there is a tendency by almost all protection agencies to to essentially leave these vulnerable girls to suffer and let the criminals continue their offending. One of the reasons for this is the issue of the ethnicity of the perpetrators.</p>
<p>As a criminologist I believe all criminals should be defined by their actions and punished accordingly. But it is necessary and relevant for society to discuss the ethnicity of perpetrators and victims and how this influences specific crimes.</p>
<p>It is not racist to do this, just as it is not racist to say that the majority of men on the UK sex offenders register for sexual crime <a href="https://fullfact.org/crime/what-do-we-know-about-ethnicity-people-involved-sexual-offences-against-children/">are white</a>. It is also important to remember that black and minority ethnic children and young people are <a href="https://www.csepoliceandprevention.org.uk/sites/default/files/cse_guidance_bame.pdf">victims of sexual exploitation</a>, too.</p>
<p>But in May 2019 it was estimated that there were at least <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2019-05-14/debates/349FA275-CB65-45C0-87C7-EE16D1FD1B0A/GroomingGangs">73 grooming gangs</a> operating in the UK. The inability of South Yorkshire Police and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/mar/24/police-serious-case-review-exploitation-girls-in-bristol">other forces</a> to act professionally and speak openly and plainly about the ethnicity of on-street child abusers is a significant factor in why these horrific offences have gone undetected for so long and it remains a significant factor today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130099/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Graham Hill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The fear of ‘racial tension’ has been at the heart of many botched police inquiries into child sexual abuse.Graham Hill, Visiting research fellow, School of Law, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1035492018-09-26T10:01:05Z2018-09-26T10:01:05ZChild protection investigations can silence children and offer impunity to abusers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237918/original/file-20180925-149970-14hmy9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTUzNzkwOTY5NCwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfNjcxNTM3MDExIiwiayI6InBob3RvLzY3MTUzNzAxMS9tZWRpdW0uanBnIiwibSI6MSwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCJtT0d1c3k5dTQzV1I2OEhaNTNwSmZWckJGM1kiXQ%2Fshutterstock_671537011.jpg&pi=33421636&m=671537011&src=zrPePSD5ivmqfCy8tL_Uxg-1-92">Veja/shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The child protection investigation system in the UK is not fit for purpose. Despite high profile child abuse cases in Rochdale, Rotherham and Telford, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/22/child-victims-of-violent-and-sexual-crimes-not-being-taken-seriously">lessons</a> are not being learned and the failings of those investigations are being repeated.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.iicsa.org.uk/reports">Interim Report</a> of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse found that two thirds of adults do not feel comfortable discussing sexual abuse, even with those they know and trust. It is not surprising then that children have difficulties disclosing and talking about sexual abuse when they experience it. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783319938233">My research</a> – which examined a wide collection of children’s experiences of child protection investigations – found that the system itself exacerbates this issue by creating overly formal situations (such as investigative interviews) which children find intimidating and difficult to understand. </p>
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<h2>Vulnerability and confusion</h2>
<p>The majority of children do not know what to expect when child protection services begin to intervene in their lives. The first realisation that they are the subject of an investigation often comes when social workers and police officers arrive to conduct an initial interview. This can be the most emotionally challenging period of the investigation. It is when children feel most vulnerable as they have no clear idea of what is going on or what might happen as a result of the interview. </p>
<p>They can also find the subsequent child protection process confusing and this is mainly due to a lack of information and a lack of control over it.</p>
<p>High profile child abuse enquiries such as those in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ-E1uRNMsQ">Rochdale</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90_bRx6fBfs">Rotherham</a> have emphasised the need to put children, rather than adults, at the centre of child protection work and for children to be actively included in the inquiry. </p>
<p>But the existing child protection system relies on components which can silence children by causing fear and intimidation during processes which are supposed to encourage participation. For example, police officers and social workers frequently turn up unannounced at school or home to conduct video interviews with sexually abused children for use in court. </p>
<p>Children feel particularly unprepared for this, as they may be asked to discuss events which they have previously found unmentionable and in breach of social taboos. They may not have the vocabulary to describe their abuse adequately and have difficulty recalling details that they do not attach the same significance to as their interviewers – such as precise dates and surroundings. </p>
<h2>Grace’s story</h2>
<p>One of my research participants, “Grace” (not her real name), was 15 when she became the subject of a child protection investigation. “Grace”, now aged in her early 20s, had been sexually abused by her stepfather and had been removed from the family home while the investigation took place. She found the police interview so distressing that she was unable to participate fully or provide the details required for a prosecution. She said:</p>
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<p>It was intimidating … she (the police officer) was asking for really specific times and dates so … because it had been (over) like a long period of time, I couldn’t specify exactly what had happened, exactly when. So I got really stressed out about that and I started panicking and getting really worried … she was really pressing with the questions and it was a lot of pressure so I kept crying a lot and I wouldn’t give proper answers…</p>
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<p>As a result, the police dropped charges against “Grace’s” abuser and she was later returned to live with him. </p>
<h2>Another story</h2>
<p>“Jayden” (not his real name) was 12 when he became the subject of a child protection investigation in relation to the sexual abuse of himself and his ten-year-old brother by a male babysitter. He had experienced learning and behavioural difficulties over many years and was attending a special school. My interviews with “Jayden” revealed that he had very little understanding of the child protection process.</p>
<p>For “Jayden”, now in his late teens, the investigative interview represented a situation that he felt he had little control over as he did not understand the language used by the police officer and social worker. They did not adapt this to suit his developmental level and neither did they allow for his slower processing of information.</p>
<p>“Jayden” also voiced strong objections to the interview being recorded, which was possibly linked to his experiences of abuse. Despite this, he was not made aware of the purpose of the recording and he was not offered the choice to take part in the interview without it being recorded. The unintended result of this complex set of circumstances was that he felt restricted to the point of silence and withdrew from the process.</p>
<p>Enabling children to talk about their experiences of sexual abuse through meaningful participation in these investigations is essential if abusers are not to be granted impunity and children are to be protected from further abuse. This means ensuring that all children undergoing child protection interventions have access to independent advocacy from the outset of the investigation.</p>
<p>Trained advocates can help children to understand the questions that are asked of them, the process of the child protection investigation and the implications for their lives in ways that are appropriate to their age and development. Helping “Grace” and “Jayden” to participate in this way may have resulted in very different outcomes for them and their abusers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103549/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mandy Duncan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite high profile child abuse cases in Rochdale, Rotherham and Telford, lessons are not being learned and the failings of those investigations are being repeated.Mandy Duncan, Senior Lecturer in Education, Staffordshire UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/972832018-06-05T08:02:54Z2018-06-05T08:02:54ZPeace walls and other social frontiers can breed crime and conflict in cities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221578/original/file-20180604-175407-4q2wwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=352%2C638%2C5078%2C2826&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alainrouiller/29135657734/sizes/l">rouilleralain/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In several cities across Northern Ireland, so-called “peace walls” mark the boundaries between Catholic and Protestant neighbourhoods. Erected amid <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/troubles">the Troubles</a> which started in the late 1960s, the barriers were intended as a temporary measure to prevent outbreaks of violence between the two communities. Yet since then, the peace walls have <a href="https://www.justice-ni.gov.uk/articles/department-justice-interface-programme">continued to grow in size and number</a>, and 69% of those living closest to the walls <a href="https://www.ulster.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/224052/pws.pdf">believe they are still needed</a> to protect civilians from conflict. </p>
<p>Living near social frontiers such as the peace walls can have a huge negative impact on residents mental health and well-being. A <a href="http://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2016/04/24/jech-2015-206888">recent study</a> on the effect of segregation in Northern Ireland found that households living in an area divided by a peace wall were 19% more likely to be on antidepressants, and 39% more likely to be taking anti-anxiety medication.</p>
<p>Clearly, Northern Ireland is an extreme example. But cities all over the world have social frontiers, where neighbouring areas display sharp differences in the religious beliefs of their residents. Differences such as ethnicity and class may also have an impact on frontier residents. For example, researchers from the USA recently discovered a link between <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/686942">social frontiers in ethnicity and low-level crime</a> – they also found that more established frontiers were relatively peaceful. </p>
<h2>Finding the frontier</h2>
<p>Social frontiers can be difficult to detect when there are no physical markers, such as the peace walls. And being able to identify where these frontiers lie is crucial to understanding the impacts on those living nearby. That’s why, with colleagues at the universities of Sheffield, Liverpool and Glasgow, I set out to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/tesg.12316">develop a way of identifying social frontiers</a>, which might otherwise be invisible.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221622/original/file-20180604-175414-1xwcx41.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221622/original/file-20180604-175414-1xwcx41.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221622/original/file-20180604-175414-1xwcx41.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221622/original/file-20180604-175414-1xwcx41.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221622/original/file-20180604-175414-1xwcx41.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221622/original/file-20180604-175414-1xwcx41.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/221622/original/file-20180604-175414-1xwcx41.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Social frontiers in Sheffield, mapped.</span>
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<p>We came up with a method that distinguished between genuine frontiers and those that were just due to random variation. We then applied the method to neighbourhood differences in country of birth and ethnicity in Sheffield, and tested whether the identified social frontiers were linked to crime. We found that neighbourhoods joined by a social frontier had significantly higher rates of violent crime, burglaries, vehicle crimes and total crime. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/immigration-and-crime-is-there-a-link-93521">Immigration and crime, is there a link?</a>
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<p>But we still don’t know why these social frontiers emerge and why they are associated with higher crime rates. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/009411907690036X">One theory</a> is that social frontiers are a symptom of underlying tensions between two communities. Such tensions mean that no one wants to live among members of the other group, so a kind of cliff edge emerges, where there are sharp differences in the make up of neighbourhoods, even though they are right next to each other. As such, both the social frontiers, and the related crimes, are symptoms of the social tensions. </p>
<h2>Mapping our differences</h2>
<p>We have also visualised these cliff edges in the social landscape using 3D maps, such as the one below showing the percentage of Muslims in neighbourhoods in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. The highest share in any neighbourhood is around 42%. And although this is not particularly high compared to levels of ethnic concentration seen in other countries, such as the US, it’s large enough to wonder why there are far fewer Muslims living in neighbouring areas. </p>
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<span class="caption">Percentage of Muslims in Rotherham neighbourhoods, mapped.</span>
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<p>A further issue with social frontiers, like the one we see here, is that there is a shortage of “bridge-builders” – households that are prepared to live in the other camp, providing vital links between otherwise isolated social networks. These bridge builders help avoid misunderstandings, and can help the two communities connect with each other and resolve points of conflict. Without them, tensions escalate and communities drift even further apart. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/stopping-segregation-its-not-just-where-you-live-its-the-places-you-go-that-matter-68263">Stopping segregation: it's not just where you live, it's the places you go that matter</a>
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<p>It’s not yet clear whether frontiers are always sites of conflict, or whether they can also be places where diverse communities come together, or whether they are the results of arbitrary causes, such as local authority housing allocation decisions. We are also not sure how typical our results are of other UK cities, and whether higher crime rates are linked also to other inter-group divisions. </p>
<p>For example, groups might become segregated out of fear for their own safety: research using <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-ethnic-and-racial-harassment-damages-mental-health-73076">large-scale nationally representative household survey data</a> found that ethnic minorities living in neighbourhoods with a higher proportion of residents from their own ethnic group experienced lower levels of harassment and better mental health. </p>
<p>Being able to identify social frontiers is the first step to understanding what impacts they have on the people living nearby. And if they are linked to crime, depression and anxiety in other cities too, then governments will have good cause to set about dismantling the invisible frontiers that divide society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97283/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gwilym Pryce receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council. </span></em></p>The fault lines between highly segregated neighbourhoods have been linked to higher crime rates and mental health issues.Gwilym Pryce, Professor of Urban Economics and Social Statistics and Director of the Sheffield Methods Institute, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/696902017-01-04T11:20:26Z2017-01-04T11:20:26ZFrom Orgreave to Rotherham – the trials and tribulations of South Yorkshire Police<p>Home Secretary Amber Rudd’s decision to rule out a public inquiry into the “Battle of Orgreave” is once again back in the spotlight after being <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2017-01-02/council-to-call-for-orgreave-public-inquiry-derbyshire/">publicly condemned</a> by North East Derbyshire Council. The Labour-run council is now calling on Rudd to “think again” about her decision not to order a full probe into the notorious miners’ strike clash between South Yorkshire Police and striking pitmen.</p>
<p>Rudd made the decision not to hold a public inquiry into Orgreave without reviewing all of the evidence. In an <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/government-decision-rule-out-orgreave-9553428#ICID=sharebar_twitter">announcement in 2016</a>, she claimed that there had been “very significant changes” in the oversight of policing since the miners’ strike, meaning that:</p>
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<p>There would be very few lessons for the policing system today to be learned from any review of the events and practices of three decades ago.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>She further suggested that there were “no miscarriages of justice” at Orgreave, given “there were no deaths” and “no convictions”.</p>
<p>At the time, Rudd’s decision triggered widespread condemnation and was said by <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2017-01-02/council-to-call-for-orgreave-public-inquiry-derbyshire/">councillor Derrick Skinner</a> to show “contempt for the many former miners, their families and communities … who have waited patiently for decades for the truth”.</p>
<p>This news comes after it was recently announced that files relating to the so-called Battle of Orgreave are expected <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-38276208">to be made public this year</a>, which could well lead to further scrutiny of South Yorkshire Police.</p>
<h2>A bloody battle</h2>
<p>The “Battle of Orgreave” became one of the most decisive events of the 1984-85 miners’ strike. It happened on June 18 1984, after <a href="https://theconversation.com/war-on-the-picket-line-how-the-british-press-made-a-battle-out-of-the-miners-strike-60470">striking miners</a> picketing a South Yorkshire coking plant were herded into a field near Orgreave coking plant, outside Rotherham.
The miners were then reportedly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/21/orgreave-campaigners-tell-amber-rudd-trust-in-police-remains-broken">charged by cavalry</a> and subject to a <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/sheffield/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8217000/8217946.stm">series of violent attacks by police</a> on foot and horseback. </p>
<p>Ninety-five miners and supporters were subsequently charged with riot and unlawful assembly, but were acquitted after a seven-week trial in light of allegations that police officers had lied in court and fabricated evidence. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151636/original/image-20170103-18641-1g4r14j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151636/original/image-20170103-18641-1g4r14j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151636/original/image-20170103-18641-1g4r14j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=874&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151636/original/image-20170103-18641-1g4r14j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=874&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151636/original/image-20170103-18641-1g4r14j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=874&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151636/original/image-20170103-18641-1g4r14j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1098&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151636/original/image-20170103-18641-1g4r14j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1098&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151636/original/image-20170103-18641-1g4r14j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1098&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Orgreave coke works in Yorkshire during the miners’ strike.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">PA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The events have caused lasting rifts between police and former mining communities, and serious questions remain about the relationship between the policing operation at Orgreave and the “underhand tactics” used by the same police force to deadly affect at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/hillsborough-at-last-the-shameful-truth-is-out-58456">Hillsborough stadium disaster</a> less than six years later. </p>
<p>And in 2016, the conduct of South Yorkshire police was once again called into question at the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/nov/16/asian-men-far-right-rotherham-cleared-violent-disorder">conclusion of a trial of ten Asian men</a> accused of violent disorder. </p>
<h2>Further scrutiny</h2>
<p>The men were arrested along with two others following their involvement in an anti-racism protest in Rotherham in September 2015. In the aftermath of the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-28934963">child abuse scandal</a> which erupted in the town earlier that year, the area had become a magnet for far-right groups, who organised a series of provocative marches in the town. </p>
<p>And while the jury at Sheffield Crown Court heard that members of Rotherham’s Muslim community had largely chosen to ignore the far-right marches following <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-35688543">the racist murder</a> of 81-year-old Mushin Ahmed in August – who suffered a brutal attack as he walked to mosque for morning prayers – the community organised a peaceful counter-demonstration.</p>
<p>When the protest came to an end, the anti-racist group were shepherded by police past a local pub known to be associated with the far-right. There, they were physically attacked, suffered a barrage of racist abuse and were forced to defend themselves. Following a gruelling six-week trial, the jury unanimously returned not guilty verdicts for all ten of the men standing trial. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151637/original/image-20170103-18641-t0w1rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151637/original/image-20170103-18641-t0w1rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151637/original/image-20170103-18641-t0w1rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151637/original/image-20170103-18641-t0w1rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151637/original/image-20170103-18641-t0w1rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151637/original/image-20170103-18641-t0w1rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151637/original/image-20170103-18641-t0w1rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151637/original/image-20170103-18641-t0w1rn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not guilty verdicts in the Rotherham 12 case raise serious questions about the conduct of South Yorkshire Police.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rotherham 12 campaign</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Rotherham 12 case triggered a national campaign in support of the arrested men. This was backed by the <a href="http://otjc.org.uk/">Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign</a> whose members attended the trial to show support. Both groups have drawn parallels between the Rotherham 12 case and the treatment of the miners at Orgreave. </p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.tmg-uk.org/rotherham-12-the-jury-finds-all-the-defendants-not-guilty/">public statement</a> following the verdicts, the Rotherham 12 Defence Campaign was heavily critical of South Yorkshire Police, stating that officers “led the local community towards danger and left them unprotected”. </p>
<p>In the words of one of the acquitted men:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There are similarities with what the police did to the Orgreave miners, and how they herded them to a particular spot … I had a bin thrown at me, punches thrown at me and I had literally done nothing. Now you imagine five weeks later, at six or seven in the morning, police officers, ten of them, coming to your house. Your children are scared, you’re scared, you’re treated as some common criminal.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>From bad to worse</h2>
<p>The arrests have worsened the already strained relations between South Yorkshire Police and the local Muslim community in Rotherham, who have raised concerns that the force have failed to adequately respond to far-right violence in the town. </p>
<p>The Rotherham 12 Defence Campaign have called for an independent inquiry into the conduct and behaviour of the police, noting that public confidence in the force “is at an all time low”. The police force <a href="http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/south-yorkshire-police-told-to-improve-1-8279247">has also been told</a> it “requires improvement” in how it keeps people safe and reduces crime by the police watchdog, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of the Constabulary.</p>
<p>So, two cases, over 30 years apart, both involving a community under siege, constructed as an enemy within. Over-policed and under-protected, a fundamental breakdown in police community relations and a deep sense of injustice. And at the heart of both cases is South Yorkshire Police. </p>
<p>Perhaps then Rudd’s refusal to hold a public inquiry into Orgreave is not because the event is no longer relevant to contemporary policing, but because of just how relevant it continues to be. </p>
<p>The Orgreave and Rotherham campaigners have made clear that their fight for justice will continue and a protest has been called outside the Home Office on March 13. And despite the home secretary’s decision, the trials and tribulations of South Yorkshire Police look set to continue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69690/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanna Gilmore is affiliated with the Northern Police Monitoring Project. </span></em></p>South Yorkshire Police has recently been criticised for how well it protects people and prevents crime, and it isn’t the first time.Joanna Gilmore, Lecturer in Law, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/699232016-12-05T15:40:41Z2016-12-05T15:40:41ZAnother century, another witch-hunt: this time it’s poor Muslim women<p>Poor, uneducated, housebound women appear to be almost wholly responsible for the lack of integration of some Muslim communities in Britain. </p>
<p>At least, that seems to be the finding of a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/574565/The_Casey_Review.pdf">new report</a> on social cohesion, carried out by Dame Louise Casey. She says that Muslim immigrant women who come to the UK by marrying British Muslim men tend not to speak English and are victims of their husbands’ and other Muslim men’s patriarchal, misogynist and abusive practices. </p>
<p>But it is confusing to blame these women for segregation, and to put their experience of domestic violence at the centre of this debate. As the legal scholar Sonya Fernandez <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3SPcAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA72&lpg=PA72&dq=white+men+kill+partners+UK&source=bl&ots=TUFsHPDzrh&sig=3w2WGgIntmOWE3PTnCRtFtH5po0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiN4oPVl93QAhWsKMAKHdh_AHU4ChDoAQgrMAM#v=onepage&q=(non-Muslim)&f=false">has noted</a>, anti-Muslim discourse reinforces a stereotype about Muslims that ignores the “concrete reality of the two (non-Muslim) women killed every week by their partners or ex partners in the United Kingdom.” The <a href="http://safelives.org.uk/policy-evidence/about-domestic-abuse/who-are-victims-domestic-abuse">vast majority</a> of all domestic violence cases in the UK involve white men hurting and killing their white partners and children. </p>
<p>Casey suggests that the reason we don’t talk more about Muslim domestic violence is because we are afraid of being labelled racist. But I would argue that the reason we don’t discuss it is because it is such a small percentage of the everyday cases of domestic abuse. People in Britain tend to ignore it, just as they ignore the plight of Muslim women in general. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/04/tough-questions-social-integration-laws-values-every-person-britain">companion article</a> to the report for The Guardian, Casey suggests that this reluctance is dangerous: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Too often leaders and institutions have ducked these difficult issues. Not because they thought white women were more worthy of help, but for fear of being labelled racist or insensitive. You only have to look at Rotherham for that. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>By Rotherham, she is referring to her <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/401125/46966_Report_of_Inspection_of_Rotherham_WEB.pdf">2015 report</a> into the horrific case of Muslim men abusing young, predominantly white, non-Muslim girls over a decade at least. Some of the police reluctance to intervene earlier was initially explained by “political correctness”, whereby many police feared being labelled racist, Casey <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/mar/11/child-abuse-failings-rotherham-council-rise-islamophobia">concluded</a>. </p>
<p>That excuse was not wholly supported by another <a href="http://www.rotherham.gov.uk/downloads/file/1407/independent_inquiry_cse_in_rotherham">independent inquiry</a> that found police failings stemmed from their tendency to disrespect the girls, and therefore not take their complaints seriously. That inquiry’s author, Alexis Jay, wrote that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>At an operational level, the police gave no priority to [child sexual exploitation], regarding many child victims with contempt and failing to act on their abuse as a crime.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Still, Casey has focused in her latest report on the practices of a tiny proportion of the population who are subjected to, she says, patriarchal, religiously-based sexist practices. The report suggests that Muslims need to take “an oath of integration” when they come to the UK. But, as <a href="http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199577873.001.0001/acprof-9780199577873">my research shows</a>, such an oath could be equally useful for some white English people – who refuse to have Muslims as friends or even as taxi drivers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148634/original/image-20161205-19407-bwsyby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148634/original/image-20161205-19407-bwsyby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148634/original/image-20161205-19407-bwsyby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148634/original/image-20161205-19407-bwsyby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148634/original/image-20161205-19407-bwsyby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148634/original/image-20161205-19407-bwsyby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148634/original/image-20161205-19407-bwsyby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A mosque in Gloucester.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jt-graphics/5876053649/sizes/l">JT Graphics/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Islamophobia as a barrier</h2>
<p>Casey states that “rates of integration in some communities may have
been undermined by high levels of transnational marriage” – creating what she says is a “first generation in every generation” phenomenon. </p>
<p>The implication is that Muslim women should not only learn English, get out of the house more and get jobs, but more should marry non-Muslim men. But integration is not that simple. As Casey herself states: “Islamophobic hate crime attacks … can be disproportionately targeted at women. This appears to relate to more visible and identifiable forms of cultural dress, such as wearing a hijab, veil, niqab or burkha.” Crikey. No wonder they stay indoors.</p>
<p>Figures <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/07/hate-crimes-against-muslims-soar-london-islamophobia">released</a> by London’s Metropolitan Police in 2015 showed that Islamophobic attacks were mainly against women, and had increased by 70% from the previous year. Why, then, doesn’t Casey say more about the perpetrators?</p>
<p>What we are seeing in Casey’s report is yet another witch-hunt, like those in earlier centuries that occurred because societies needed someone to blame – and women were easy targets. The ferocity of debates about the veil and niqab are disproportionate to the tiny numbers of women who wear them in the UK and other “Western” countries. It is a symbol to some of religious adherence. As a sociologist of religion, I also understand that to <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/news/2013/09/18/most-still-want-ban-burka-britain/">many people</a> it is a symbol of “otherness” and women not behaving as the majority may wish. </p>
<p>When I teach sociology of religion, my first task is to help students see that “religion” can be a catch-all phrase used to gloss over all sorts of issues that may better be described as political, racial or ethnic. Students learn that women in most societies bear the brunt of society’s angst. </p>
<p>And so, to borrow from a Christian value, it is time we removed the planks from our own eyes before trying to remove the specks from another.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69923/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abby Day does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new review on integration in Britain lumps much of the blame on housebound Muslim women.Abby Day, Reader of Race, Faith & Culture, Goldsmiths, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/531442016-03-08T09:29:42Z2016-03-08T09:29:42ZHow we created safe spaces for women and girls in Rotherham<p>Recent media reporting about the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35670538">town of Rotherham</a> in northern England has been overwhelmingly negative. As one 16-year-old girl from the town put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Rotherham. Let me ask you, what really springs to mind?
Now let me tell you. Once an unknown town it is now recognised by millions globally. Now only known for its sinister secrets; for its horrific crimes that tarnished a whole community. Will our town ever be forgotten? It’s no longer ‘the town next to Sheffield’ but the town where children were abused; will we ever feel safe again? </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Since the <a href="http://www.rotherham.gov.uk/downloads/file/1407/independent_inquiry_cse_in_rotherham">inquiry by Alexis Jay</a> there has been a need to support communities across the town, particularly women and girls to create positive visions for the future. Our own research has focused on the importance of cultural activities in creating safe spaces for women and girls. It is a small part of the wider <a href="http://imaginecommunity.org.uk">Imagine project</a>, a five-year programme of research on the theme of imagining better futures and making them happen. </p>
<p>Before the Jay report came out, we had already been working with a group of women in a community library. The women read poetry, such as Jackie Kay’s poem <a href="http://www.poetryarchive.org/poem/my-country">In My Country</a> about belonging and identity and feelings. Through this, the women were able to articulate feelings of isolation and overcome these in conversations and begin to write about their own experiences as part of the new project. </p>
<h2>A better future</h2>
<p>Through writing, women can challenge gender inequality, discrimination and patriotism – it empowers women and gives a “voice to the voiceless”. Women need a place where they feel safe to write and not be judged or criticised for expressing their opinions. </p>
<p>The writing sessions were held every week for 18 months, with women from many different backgrounds and nationalities coming to read poems and produce their own writing. Women wrote about their everyday experiences, their pasts and their better imagined futures, giving us the idea that writing itself could be a “safe space”.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108993/original/image-20160122-441-8tssxz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C304%2C2902%2C2123&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108993/original/image-20160122-441-8tssxz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108993/original/image-20160122-441-8tssxz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108993/original/image-20160122-441-8tssxz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=728&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108993/original/image-20160122-441-8tssxz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108993/original/image-20160122-441-8tssxz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/108993/original/image-20160122-441-8tssxz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Material Knowledge – a painting of the artist’s mother produced for the wider Imagine project in Rotherham.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Zahir Rafiq</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The projects were co-produced with communities and the women made decisions about what they would do. One group of women in a local school decided to set up a project focused on women’s empowerment. They decided to write a book on their inherited herbal remedies in order to celebrate the everyday knowledge that goes untapped within communities. Some of these women have gone on to further education and training. </p>
<p>We also set up a girls’ poetry group where girls aged 13 to 16 of Pakistani heritage could recover their sense of self through writing poetry. Writing poems in this way can be an opportunity for hope and resilience, where things can be articulated that are not in the mainstream media. Here was one poem written by a 16-year-old girl living in Rotherham:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Living on My Street</p>
<p>My street is a very long street. It is very multi-cultural.
On my street live English, Irish, Pakistanis, Scottish, Indian, African, Afghans, Italian, Polish, Slovakians and Spanish.
It’s good to meet and mix with other people, and learn about each other,</p>
<p>We all get on with each other. We don’t argue. We accept everyone. My street is the best street in Rotherham.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Tapping community knowledge</h2>
<p>Small-scale projects such as these, led by women themselves, can often be very effective in creating safe spaces. We were so impressed with how much knowledge there is in the communities – but much of it goes untapped and we are in danger of losing a rich part of heritage and culture. </p>
<p>Knowledge can be found in every community and every house in the land – it is just we put different values on that knowledge. For too long, community knowledge has been seen as being further down the ladder than academic knowledge held by scholars but in our project we have been trying to support that knowledge.</p>
<p>Research like this that focuses on cultures, histories and identities can surface untapped voices and ideas and can aid recovery and resilience. It’s possible to celebrate hope for the future through poetry, writing and by surfacing existing funds of knowledge in communities. Projects such as Imagine can have a long term impact on empowering women, building their confidence and nurturing them until they are ready to fly.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53144/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Pahl receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) under the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) led Connected Communities Programme. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zanib Rasool received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for Imagine project. She is a bid writer for Rotherham United Community Sports Trust and a director of GROW, which is a not-for-profit organisation. </span></em></p>In a town still reeling, writing is helping to empower women.Kate Pahl, Professor of Literacies in Education, University of SheffieldZanib Rasool, PhD Candidate, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/353512014-12-10T18:29:25Z2014-12-10T18:29:25ZTime to finish off Page 3 – and tackle #everydaysexism – by handing out a few ‘prizes’<p>The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/dec/09/no-more-page-3-step-up-their-campaign-against-the-sun">contortions</a> of The Sun newspaper against mounting opposition to its notorious Page 3 topless women would be laughable if they did not represent a much wider problem. With even glamour queen Katie Price apparently <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2014/dec/08/katie-price-end-of-era-supersized-back-to-32b-breast-reduction">throwing in the towel</a> and having her breast size reduced, you wonder how many senior Sun executives seriously want to keep it going. Even they can’t have entirely missed the dawning of the new millennium and 40 years of advances in women’s equality. </p>
<p>Page 3 dates from a time when Benny Hill, Les Dawson and Jimmy Savile were the acceptable faces of a male-dominated culture where women just needed just to “calm down dear” and take a joke. As the No More Page 3 campaigners say, this isn’t just about getting rid of a sexist image in a newspaper. This is part of women’s “wider struggle for better representation, equality and human rights”. </p>
<h2>Everywhere you look …</h2>
<p>British society is slowly wakening up to pervasive <a href="http://everydaysexism.com/">everyday sexism</a>, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2014/feb/14/rape-culture-damage-it-does-everyday-sexism">rape culture</a>, the <a href="http://gaildines.com/pornland/pornland-about-the-book/">normalisation of pornography</a> and epidemic proportions of <a href="http://www.rotherham.gov.uk/downloads/file/1407/independent_inquiry_cse_in_rotherham">sexual exploitation</a>, gender-based violence and sexual abuse – both here and across the world. Post-<a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140122145147/http:/www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/">Leveson</a>, how long can fair and balanced journalism co-exist with the continued stereotyping and objectification of women? You don’t have look far beyond Page 3 to see the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2839227/Ched-Evans-defended-Irish-PFA-say-convicted-rapist-innocent.html">Ched Evans</a> row, the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2839227/Ched-Evans-defended-Irish-PFA-say-convicted-rapist-innocent.html">Grand Theft Auto Rape Mod</a>, the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2014/nov/27/coca-colas-new-milk-adverts-are-unoriginal-and-tediously-sexist">Fairlife milk adverts</a> and countless more.</p>
<p>The wider picture? It certainly won’t help that this is a country that was <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/15/un-special-rapporteur-manjoo-yarls-wood-home-office">recently described</a> by a senior UN official as having an “in your face sexist culture”. Fewer than <a href="http://ukfeminista.org.uk/take-action/facts-and-statistics-on-gender-inequality/">one quarter of</a> reporters on national dailies are women. Research has shown that men outnumber women as television and radio experts by four to one. The TV industry’s unwillingness to put older women in front of the cameras is <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22682588">meanwhile legend</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66908/original/image-20141210-6027-cxtie7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66908/original/image-20141210-6027-cxtie7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/66908/original/image-20141210-6027-cxtie7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66908/original/image-20141210-6027-cxtie7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66908/original/image-20141210-6027-cxtie7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66908/original/image-20141210-6027-cxtie7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66908/original/image-20141210-6027-cxtie7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/66908/original/image-20141210-6027-cxtie7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">An imbalanced society.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&searchterm=sexism&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=221485153">PandaVector</a></span>
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<h2>Light amid darkness</h2>
<p>Yet if this is the mountain still to climb, we are arguably at a slightly higher altitude than we once were. Part of this is changing times – The Sun’s management at least sounds awkward defending Page 3 these days, and it ditched the page in Ireland with <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/feb/04/page-3-ireland">little effect</a> to circulation. Its UK days also look numbered. </p>
<p>The atmosphere has also arguably been changed by the slew of sexual abuse scandals that have hit the media in the last two or three years. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/operation-yewtree/">Operation Yewtree</a>, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11057647/Rotherham-sex-abuse-scandal-1400-children-exploited-by-Asian-gangs-while-authorities-turned-a-blind-eye.html">Rotherham</a>, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/rochdale-child-sex-ring">Rochdale</a> and the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10950127/Westminster-paedophile-ring-allegations-timeline.html">Westminster affair</a> have all created a sense in which practices that used to be tolerated are now being confronted. The media has been shamed by its own past acquiescence and has not shied away from full coverage that gives the impact on the victims its proper due. </p>
<p>So how do we make these steps forward permanent? Unrelenting campaigns from No More Page 3 to Everyday Sexism are obviously part of the answer. Scotland might also have something to offer here, through the work of anti-abuse charity <a href="http://www.zerotolerance.org.uk/">Zero Tolerance</a>. In 2013 it launched the first <a href="http://writetoendvaw.com/">Write to End Violence Against Women Awards</a> and published a <a href="http://www.vawpreventionscotland.org.uk/sites/default/files/HWC_V5.pdf">media guide</a> to promote responsible journalism and reporting of all forms of violence against women. The group also awards an annual wooden spoon for the worst examples of sexist reporting. The 2014 award winners will be announced on the evening of 10 December. </p>
<p>It is a reminder that we could do with a high-profile version of these awards for the whole of the UK. If we can give large amounts of coverage to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/11/12/bad-sex-award-2014_n_6145074.html">Bad Sex Awards</a> in writing, we need exactly the same approach for writing that degrades women. To give others a chance of course, Page 3 would need a category all of its own.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35351/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anni was a judge at this year's Zero Tolerance Write to End Violence Against Women Awards</span></em></p>The contortions of The Sun newspaper against mounting opposition to its notorious Page 3 topless women would be laughable if they did not represent a much wider problem. With even glamour queen Katie Price…Anni Donaldson, Honorary Research Fellow Domestic Abuse, University of Strathclyde Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.