Written by Megan Strickland, MSc Applied Gender Studies
The feminist magazine Spare Rib captured many significant moments in the second-wave feminist movement in the UK, and in Scotland we are lucky enough to access collections like this in the Glasgow Women’s Library. With the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence coming to an end this week, it is worth recalling an article from 1973 which offered readers an insight in to the world’s first safe house for women and children escaping domestic abuse.
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| Spare Rib, June 1973, Issue 12, Glasgow Women's Library Arc |
The shelter, opened in Chiswick, was then known as the Women’s Centre, and is now recognised as the first shelter opened by the charity Refuge. Written just two years after the facility opened its doors, the article candidly reported women’s testimonials of domestic abuse in an attempt to strip away the secrecy and stigma surrounding what was seen by many at the time to be a husband’s prerogative and a private affair. Given this cultural backdrop, the featured stories of abduction, violent physical abuse, marital and incestuous rape, and attempted murder were likely to have shocked readers at the time. Reading this article more than forty-five years later, I am not shocked by their stories but instead deeply saddened. Sad for these women, sad for their children but mostly sad because their stories are still so familiar.
Of course, lots of progress has been made in addressing intimate partner violence since this issue of Spare Rib was published. Thanks in large part to efforts from feminist organisations, survivors of domestic abuse in the UK are afforded more legal protections and support services such as shelters are more widely available across the nation. Yet, what struck me most when reading this article was not what had changed, it was what had not. Below are two excerpts which I found particularly interesting:
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| Spare Rib, June 1973, Issue 12, p. 4, Glasgow Women's Library Archives. |
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| Spare Rib, June 1973, Issue 12, p. 12, Glasgow Women's Library Archives. |
These excerpts demonstrate clearly that violent men can come from any background and are capable of acting kind and loving. This would hardly come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the research on domestic abuse, yet it contradicts the way that abusers are portrayed in the media today, particularly regarding men who murder their intimate partners/ex-partners. Rather than take the time to explain the nuances of abusive behaviour, media outlets in the UK have taken a ‘saints and sinners’ or more accurately a ‘misunderstood and monsters’ approach. Some men are reported almost as victims themselves, with headlines that exonerate them by ignoring their role in the crime entirely. Other headlines blame the murder on the victim’s actions and portray the perpetrator as a ‘good’ man who was pushed into violence: | |
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Daily Mirror, 15th October, 2018.
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In cases where the victim cannot be easily blamed or where the abusers have been tried and convicted for their actions, the media reverts to the ‘sinner’ or ‘monster’ treatment:
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| The Scottish Sun, 19th July, 2020. |
Like excusing or denying male violence, naming violent men as ‘monsters’ implies exceptionalism and effectively isolates their actions from the larger context of violence against women in the UK. In 2019, at least 111 women in the UK were killed by men (or where a man is the principal suspect), and the government has reported that in the period between April 2016 and March 2018, 270 women were killed in domestic homicides in England and Wales alone. Yet, the media continues to report these crimes irresponsibly. In a study on The Sun newspaper, researchers found that the level of victim blaming in these headlines was consistent during the period of research from 2001-2012.[1] Though eight years have passed since the research concluded, The Sun was among many media outlets criticised for their reporting of the death of Claire Parry in October of this year. The below headlines by The Sun do not even name Claire, instead focusing solely on her killer; his job, his emotions and even his claim that he ‘accidentally’ strangled her to death.
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| The Sun, 14th October, 2020. |
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| The Sun, 15th October, 2020. |
Exacerbating this problem is the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to an overall increase in gender inequality, and lockdown measures have placed women experiencing abuse at increased risk. In early April this year, Refuge reported a 25% increase in calls to its National Domestic Abuse Helpline since the beginning of lockdown on 24th March, and after Refuge’s Helpline received significant media coverage, calls increased by 120% on the 6th April compared to the previous day. Domestic homicides have been similarly affected: In the first three weeks of lockdown at least 16 women in the UK were killed by men (or where a man is the principal suspect), a significant increase from the already worrying average of two women a week. Unsurprisingly, the UK media did not see the increase in public attention as a way to educate their readers on what the UN have called a ‘shadow pandemic’ of violence against women. Instead, they linked the deaths exclusively with COVID-19, calling them ‘quarantine’, ‘self-isolation’ and ‘Coronavirus’ murders:
As domestic abuse experts have pointed out, COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown has worsened the situation for many women experiencing domestic abuse, but it has not created the problem. When the UK media chooses to centre men’s excuses for abuse, as they have done previously with football and alcohol,[2] they only serve to obscure the real reason behind violence against women; violent men and a system that excuses and condones their violence.
Fortunately, it has never been easier for the UK media to make a change and putting pressure on media outlets to report responsibly can and has made a difference. Feminist organisations such as Zero Tolerance and Gender Equal Media Scotland have released guidelines on responsible media reporting. Zero Tolerance also host an annual Write to End VAW awards to raise awareness and to continue to push for more responsible reporting. These actions are making some difference. In February of this year, The Guardian changed a headlined after it was criticised online for mis-reporting the murder of Debbie Zurick, who police believe was shot by her husband before he turned the gun on himself. Below shows the original headline (left) and the amended headline (right):
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| Twitter screenshot captured by author |
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| The Guardian, 28th February, 2020. |
The Spare Rib excerpts demonstrate that since at least 1973, survivors have understood that violent men are not misunderstood nor are they monsters. Their insights informed feminists who now understand that these men are part of a larger patriarchal system which enables their violence. Nearly fifty years later, the struggle to convince the media of this reality continues.
References
[1] Lloyd, M. and Ramon, S. (2016) Smoke and Mirrors: UK Newspaper Representations of Intimate Partner Domestic Violence. Violence Against Women, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 114-139.
[2] Brooks-Hay, O. and Lombard, N. (2018) 'Home Game: Domestic Abuse and Football'. Journal of Gender-Based Violence, Vol. 2, No.1, pp. 93-108.
Helplines
Police Scotland:
999 – Emergency; 101 – Non-Emergency
Scotland’s Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Helpline:
0800 027 1234 24 hours a day, 7 days a week helpline@ndafmhs.org.uk (response within 2 days by email)
Rape Crisis Scotland Helpline:
08088 01 03 02 between 6pm and midnight every night
or by email support@rapecrisisscotland.org.uk
Full details of access to support for people who are deaf or hard of hearing can be found at https://www.rapecrisisscotland.org.uk/help-deaf-access-to-support/ We can arrange for language interpreters.
Amina Muslim Women’s Resource Centre: Help for women in English, Urdu, Arabic, Punjabi, Bangli and Swahili and, when required, using online interpreting
0808 801 0301 10am-4pm, Monday to Friday
Shakti Women’s Aid: Help for black and minority ethnic (BME) women, children and young people who are experiencing, or who have experienced, domestic abuse.
0131 475 2399 9.30am-4pm - Monday to Friday
Respect Phoneline: Free and confidential service for anyone who is concerned about their own behaviour towards their partner (male, female, in heterosexual or same-sex relationships
0808 802 4040 9am-5pm - Monday-Friday
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