Ruth Cross – Usdaw Equalities Officer says: “Domestic violence, sexual harassment and assault alongside other forms of violence, abuse and intimidation are commonly affecting between a quarter and a third of all women during their lifetimes. Violence against women and girls is not inevitable. Properly funded action that focuses on the structural causes, recognises the links between the different forms of violence and sets out clear and measurable targets to tackle it is urgently needed.
 
“Women are twice as likely to feel unsafe when travelling to and from work. They are the majority of public transport users and so cuts to bus, tram and rail services have a disproportionate impact on women. The problem is particularly acute for low paid women who are more likely to be traveling when its dark because they work part time, late at night or very early in the morning. Responses to violence that put the onus on women and girls to change their behaviour ignore the impact that under funding of services has on their safety and also ignores the structural causes of men’s violence against women.
 
“Usdaw welcomes Labour’s strategy to eliminate violence against women and girls. We reiterate our support for specialist support services to enable women and girls to escape violence and rebuild their lives. Access to such services is a right for every woman and girl in the UK who experiences or is at risk of domestic violence, rape, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, trafficking or abuse related to prostitution, and any other form of gender based violence.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades.
 
Usdaw advice and support on domestic violence: https://www.usdaw.org.uk/Help-Advice/Health-Wellbeing/Domestic-Violence
 
Labour’s National Annual Women’s Conference 2022: https://labour.org.uk/conference/womens-conference/
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion