Richmond Council has passed a motion seeking local funding to end gendered violence.
At a council meeting on 3rd December, Richmond Council unanimously passed a motion urging greater funding to local authorities to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG).
London allocates more than £20 million annually for VAWG programmes, and Richmond receives directly just £37,000.
Councillor Katie Mansfield argued that direct local funding would allow for targeted responses within communities, which are uniquely positioned to address the specific needs of victims.
“For example, in Richmond we’ve got an older population and that’s quite a different type of abuse, behind closed doors quite often. It’s very hidden and not reported as much,” she said.
This comes after White Ribbon Day on the 25th November, which is an initiative aimed to spark conversations about gendered violence.
According to White Ribbon UK’s data, 1.4 million women experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2023 and 70% of women say they have experienced sexual harassment in public.
Councillor Mansfield, the White Ribbon champion for Richmond council, acknowledged that while residents support taking action, the real challenge lies in addressing the scale of the issue.
“They say of course it’s bad, they are very supportive, saying that ‘you don’t need to come here and talk about it’ … but when you start talking about the scale of the issue people’s faces drop quite a lot,” she said.
Both Kingston Council and Richmond Council are White Ribbon accredited, meaning that they have shown commitment to preventing harassment, abuse and VAWG.
Richmond Council has organised ‘White Ribbon walks’ across almost all wards of its borough, and it was due to do a walk jointly with Kingston Council on 7th December which was postponed due to weather.
Councillor Mansfield said: “When you talk about it and people realise there’s a difference that they can make to address this pandemic level issue of VAWG, it’s empowering. It’s empowering the local community to try and do something about it.”
Mansfield added that parents often ask her about how they can keep their sons safe from harmful content online.
With the rise of controversial influencers such as Andrew Tate, there is widespread concern that young boys are engaging with harmful online content around gender and misogyny.
At the council meeting on 3rd December, Councillor Rhi Lee said that the authorities need to work on eradicating limiting ideas on what it is to be a man.
“We need to work with men and boys by promoting a healthy expression of masculinity,” she said.
Mariana Goncalves, the councillor for Tolworth and the women’s champion for Kingston Council, said: “It’s all about cultural change – people understanding and trying to change gender norms and harmful attitudes and behaviours.”
Both councils offer bystander training to teach people how to speak up safely if someone needs help.
In addition, Kingston has a one stop shop that acts as a safe space for people to meet with specialists who deal with domestic abuse.
