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Engage is a group of pro-feminist men that was founded in Calderdale, West Yorkshire. On Friday 19 November (International Men’s Day), we are taking our protests against male violence against women and institutional sexism in the UK’s justice system to London and Manchester.
Violence against women in England and Wales in 2020:
- 1.6 million women experienced domestic abuse1
- 618,000 women (2.9% of women) were sexually assaulted (including attempted assault)2
- 52,698 women were raped3
- Women made up 84% of all survivors of sexual assault (including attempts)2
- Women made up 90% of all survivors of rape2
- 98.2% of defendants prosecuted for rape in 2019-20 were men4
- Just 1.4% of rape suspects were charged or received a summons5
Recent failings of the UK justice system:
- Tomas Pocta (Scotland) – hit, strangled and threatened to kill his pregnant girlfriend, yet he walked free.
- Jamie Read (England) – strangled his girlfriend, threw her and repeatedly kicked her in the face. Received a suspended sentence.
- Anthony Williams (Wales) – tracked down his fleeing wife and strangled her to death. Said he ‘snapped’ – received a mere 5-year jail sentence.
We will stage our protests at the London Royal Courts of Justice and the Manchester Crown Courts, aiming to encourage men to be active agents of change on issues of male violence against women and institutional sexism.
We believe these issues require men’s involvement alongside and in support of the feminist movement, which has been campaigning and working on these issues for decades. Our protests this year may well mark the first time that UK men are organising and coming together to protest about these issues, but we do not want them to be an isolated one-off. We aim for this year’s protests to be just the start, and will add protests in Cardiff, Bristol and Edinburgh for 2022.
The protests in London and Manchester will start at noon (12pm). Protesters will observe a 2-minute silence at 12:30pm to remember the 122 UK women killed by men (or where a man is the principal suspect) so far in 20216.
We encourage everyone, wherever they are in the world, to observe this 2-minute silence with us and to commit to action to end male violence against women.
Our protests mark the start of the very first Engage conference, which runs from 19 to 21 November and aims to engage men in feminist action. Our programme includes, amongst others, a Bystander Intervention Workshop (Sat. 20 Nov at 1.15pm), a workshop on misogyny and music (Sun. 20 Nov. at 1.15pm) and a talk and Q&A with world-renowned activist and writer Robert Jensen (Fri, 19 Nov. at 7pm).
Join us for what we hope will be an inspiring weekend!
Sources:
1ONS (2020) Domestic abuse in England and Wales overview: November 2020. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/domesticabuseinenglandandwalesoverview/november2020 [accessed 18 Nov. 2021].
2ONS (2021) Sexual offences victim characteristics, England and Wales: Year ending March 2020. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/sexualoffencesinenglandandwalesoverview/march2020 [accessed 18 Nov. 2021].
3ONS (2021) Sexual offences prevalence and victim characteristics, England and Wales. Table 13. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/sexualoffencesprevalenceandvictimcharacteristicsenglandandwales [accessed 18 Nov. 2021].
4CPS (2020) Key facts about how the CPS prosecutes allegations of rape. Available at: https://www.cps.gov.uk/publication/key-facts-about-how-CPS-prosecutes-allegations-rape [accessed 18 Nov. 2021].
5Home Office (2020) Crime outcomes in England and Wales 2019 to 2020. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/901028/crime-outcomes-1920-hosb1720.pdf [accessed 18 Nov. 2021].
6Ingala Smith, K (2021) Counting Dead Women. Available at: https://kareningalasmith.com/2021/02/08/2021/ [accessed 18 Nov. 2021].
