- Conference
- 2018 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 27 September 2017
- Decision
- Carried
All women can experience violence from men they know, irrespective of their nationality, religion, ethnicity, culture, social class, age, sexuality or dis/ability. Evidence suggests that prevalence of male violence is similar across all socio-economic and cultural groups.
Domestic Abuse is still happening in Black communities and is on the increase due to job cuts, women’s centres closing, support being cut and not enough emergency services available to respond quickly when called and all this leads to more abuse and Black women feel they have nowhere to turn.
The position of Black women in confronting violence is distinct. Domestic abuse may not be condoned by all family members but it is too infrequently questioned or challenged. For many Black women it is not possible to differentiate between violence experienced as a woman and violence experienced as a Black woman.
Most Black women suffering domestic abuse are not employed and have no separate disposable income, live in poor housing, and lack the education and opportunities to progress. Their isolation is made all the greater by language and cultural differences and they are ill equipped to escape abuse.
This could be for a number of factors including but not limited to Socio Economic, Immigration Status, lack of understanding of issues by agencies, lack of knowledge of the welfare benefits system.
The form the abuse takes may vary, in some communities, for example, domestic abuse may be perpetrated by extended family members, or it may include forced marriage, or female genital mutilation (FGM).
Black women are almost three times as likely to experience death as a result of domestic violence (DV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) as white women. And while Black women only make up 8% of the population, 22% of homicides that result from DV/IPV happen to Black women and 29% of all victimised women, making it one of the leading causes of death for Black women ages 15 to 35. Statistically, we experience sexual assault and DV/IPV at disproportionate rates and have the highest rates of intra-racial violence against us than any other group. We are also less likely to report or seek help when we are victimised.
The reasons Black women suffer disproportionately from abuse are complex. Racism and sexism are two of the biggest obstacles that Black women face. But because many Black women and men believe racism is a bigger issue than sexism, Black women tend to feel obligated to put racial issues ahead of sex-based issues. For Black women, a strong sense of cultural affinity and loyalty to community and race renders many of us silent, so our stories often go untold. One of the biggest related impediments is our hesitation in trusting the police or the justice system. As Black people, we don’t always feel comfortable surrendering “our own” to the treatment of a racially biased police force and as women, we don’t always feel safe calling police officers who may harm us instead of helping us. And when we do speak out or seek help, we too often experience backlash from members of our communities who believe we are airing our dirty laundry and making ourselves look bad in front of white people.
Conference therefor calls on the National Women’s Committee (NWC) to work with the National Black Members Committee (NBMC) to:
1)Highlight the fact that there is no shame in reporting facts of what has happened;
2. Work with the other SOGs and young members to highlight the fact that this can happen at any age to anyone for any reason;
3. Draw up an action plan to highlight how the government might fund more refuges, homes, and centres for victims of DV/IPV and explore the feasibility of this as part of the joint work programme within the NWC and NBMC.