Everyday Victim Blaming

challenging institutional disbelief around domestic & sexual violence and abuse

coercive control

Michael Beck: Why labelling men who kill as ‘non-violen’t is irresponsible journalism

Every single week, 2 men in England and Wales make a choice to kill their current or former partner. Despite the fact that these men consistently have a history of domestic violence, the media insists on reporting comments from random neighbours claiming that these men are ‘caring fathers’, ‘loving brothers’, ‘quiet neighbours’,  and, as above, ‘non […]

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The murders of Clodagh Hawe and Megan Short.

There was a tremendous amount of outrage about the appalling media coverage of the murder of Clodagh Hawe and her three sons in September. Unfortunately, this level of grossly inappropriate and inaccurate representation of family annihilators is not an aberration. Mark Short Sr. murdered his wife Megan and their children — 8-year-old Lianna, 5-year-old Mark Jr., and 2-year-old Willow. He also killed the […]

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North Wales Police are confused about who’s responsible for domestic violence

North Wales Police comms officers clearly haven’t been paying attention to any training (if they’ve even had any) on domestic violence and who the perpetrators actually are: Blaming victims for the behaviour of perpetrators does not increase confidence that the police will deal with domestic violence with compassion or understanding. This tweet demonstrates a clear […]

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Man abducts 18-year-old Tinder date from the streets to make a point about online dating

A YouTube ‘prankster’ has abducted an 18 year old girl he met on the dating app Tinder to make a point about online dating. The Metro coverage of this incident suggests its “on the extreme side”. This ”prankster’ has stalked the daughter of a friend online and then he and another male dressed in balaclavas grabbed her […]

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“Go From Victim to Survivor”

We have a number of concerns about this poster. Firstly, the idea of moving from a victim to a survivor implies there is a correct, linear path that women must travel down before they are ‘fixed’ and that this must happen within a specific time frame. The implication is that a woman who does not […]

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Domestic Violence in 50 Shades of Grey

On 12th February, Karen Ingala Smith, in partnership with Women’s Aid, will launch The Femicide Census: Profiles of Women Killed By Men, at a conference in London.  Meanwhile, less than two miles away, hundreds of fans will be gathering for the UK premiere of Fifty Shades of Grey – the film-adaptation of EL James’ highly successful novel.  The two events might seem unconnected.  But for practitioners, those who are aware of domestic abuse […]

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Violent man attacks wife. Media blame her breasts.

We’ve seen some really quite creative expressions of victim blaming during our campaign. Blaming a woman’s breast for her assault would definitely make our Top Ten list, if we ever made one. Graham Temple has been sentenced to 13 months in jail for physically assaulting his partner May Thomson. During the three years of their […]

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