A new report by Welsh Parliament’s Equality and Social Justice Committee looks at how we can help to end the epidemic of violence against women. It uses data and evidence from the School Health Research Network to inform its recommendations.
According to the new report How we must all play our part: A public health approach to halting the epidemic in gender based violence, two women a week are killed by a former or current partner in England and Wales. Figures indicate that 1 in 3 women aged 16 to 59 will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime. Underreporting means it it is difficult to know the true scale of the problem. The report states: ‘The prevalence of gender based violence in our society can be described as an epidemic.’
With this in mind, the Equality and Social Justice Committee’s inquiry set out to explore how a public health approach to preventing gender based violence (GBV) is being applied in Wales, focussing in particular on primary and secondary prevention. Part of the enquiry involved gathering evidence via a public consultation and sessions with experts. In June 2023, Bethan Pell and Dr. Honor Young from DECIPHer, along with Alexa Gainsbury and Emily van de Venter from Public Health Wales, provided oral evidence to the committee. You can read Bethan’s blog on this session here: Evidence for change: Reporting to the Senedd on gender-based violence.
There’s an urgent need to reduce gender-based violence, for the safety of learners and to foster healthier relationships beyond the school environment.
Dr. Honor Young
The School Health Research Network (SHRN) also provided written evidence; which can be read here. SHRN aims to improve young people’s health and wellbeing in Wales by working with schools in both primary and secondary education to generate and use good quality evidence for health improvement. This includes student and school-level surveys, capturing key health and wellbeing metrics. As requested, the submission highlighted relevant completed and ongoing research projects including SHRN, but also Safe sex and relationships in Further Education (SaFE); School-based interventions TO Prevent Dating and Relationship Violence and Gender-Based Violence (STOP): DRV-GBV systematic review, among others. More about this submission can be read in Bethan’s blog.
The final report contains 12 recommendations, concluding: ‘Just as it is not possible to contain an epidemic without knowing how it is transmitted, so GBV cannot be prevented unless we confront gender inequality. We believe the root cause of this epidemic lies in social inequality, the most important of which is gender inequality. Implementing policies that promote gender equality must be the overarching imperative.’
Dr. Honor Young said: ‘There’s an urgent need to reduce GBV, for the safety of learners and to foster healthier relationships beyond the school environment. We were delighted to be invited to provide evidence to the Senedd and contribute to this increasingly important topic area. We hope that our ongoing academic research can support the public health approach to addressing gender-based violence including sexual harassment, homophobic and transphobic bullying, and encourage policymakers and schools to take a long-term view of this important issue.’
How we must all play our part: A public health approach to halting the epidemic in gender based violence (published January 2023) can be read here.