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Violence against women and girls must tackled and misogyny made a hate crime says Usdaw

Date: 03 May 2022 Usdaw’s Annual Delegate Meeting in Blackpool’s Winter Gardens today supported a call on the Government to make misogyny a hate crime and backed a number of measures to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG).
Conference delegates welcomed the Labour Party's Green Paper 'Ending Violence Against Women and Girls' and called on the Government to:
  • Make misogyny a hate crime.
  • Immediately ratify ILO Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work. Measures should include paid leave for survivors of domestic violence, flexible work arrangements and the inclusion of domestic violence in workplace risk assessments.
  • Fund measures to prevent VAWG in the first place, by shifting attitudes and behaviours about gender and equality including making the issue a priority across education settings.
  • Ensuring sustainable funding for the specialist VAWG voluntary sector. 
Addressing the annual conference delegates, Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary said: “We have heard harrowing and emotional accounts of abuse and harassment, which is disgusting and unacceptable. The Government has failed to address the issue and rejected attempts to recognise misogyny as the hate crime that it undoubtedly is.
 
“Although the Government has finally ratified the ILO Convention on workplace violence and harassment, we are still waiting for an employment bill to bring protection against third-party harassment back into law.
 
“Through underfunding the criminal justice system, the Government is allowing perpetrators to get away with their horrific crimes. Through lack of resources, the Government is denying appropriate support to victims and advocates. The Government considers itself tough on crime, yet violence against women and girls continues to be widespread and prevalent in our society.
 
“It is right that as a union we continue to focus on this issue and it is right that we call on the Government to act. “
 
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.
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion

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