The 25th of November was the International Day of Stopping Violence Against Women and last weekend’s Reclaim the Night March marked the fifth anniversary of it’s revival. The number ‘five’ is significant to us - unbelievably the current conviction rate for rape is a derisory 5.3%. This puts Britain in one of the worst positions in Europe and in real terms means that more convictions happened back in the 1970’s than today – something I bet the organisers of the original Reclaim the Night marches thought could never happen. The criminal justice system has a responsibility to every woman in this country but more often than not it lets down the most vulnerable in society.

At this point many would be quick off the mark to make clear that violence touches the lives of everyone. Yes, it’s true that many people’s lives are affected by violent attacks, however women are disproportionately affected by sexual & domestic violence and young women and students are no exception – in a staggering 85 per cent of domestic violence incidents women are the sufferers.

The Women’s Campaign believes that a woman has the right to feel free from the threat of violence inside and outside of her home. But whilst one in four women will suffer domestic violence in her lifetime, on average a current or former partner kills more than one woman every week and every minute a domestic violence incident is reported to the police. We can’t rest and our fight goes on.

At a time when the newspapers and channels are filled with stories about the current global economic problems, maybe people will understand the issue better if it’s highlighted in economic terms. Each year, domestic violence costs the economy £2.7 billion and services a staggering £3.1 billion – maybe people who don’t understand the human cost of such violence will understand it better when put into pound signs and see that eradicating this kind of violence would allow the country to buy another small bank!

All of the above is not good enough, I hope that whoever is writing this blog in five years time will not be saying the same things because we’re in the business of equality and true equality can only be attained through freedom from oppression. So whether it’s earning the same wages as a male colleague, having total control over reproductive rights or having the freedom to live your life how you want, and without fear of violence - women deserve to live life without the constant menace of sexism and misogyny.

This is why I and the rest of the Women’s Committee exists and the reason our fight as a campaign continues. It’s also another reason why the fight for women’s liberation needs to continue in every students union up and down the country. If you don’t have a Women’s Officer then get one, we can help with this and if you have one you should defend the position until sexism ends.

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