16 Days, 16 Actions

The 25th of November – 10th December marks the international 16 Days of Action to End Gender-Based Violence (GBV). Here at Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre we ran a social media campaign called #oneaction to end GBV. We wanted to share ideas from our staff and supporters of actions people can take to help create change. To mark the close of the 16 Days, we are sharing here a selection of 16 actions in summary of the #oneaction campaign, #16days16actions.

1. ​Listen to Survivors

2. Learn from Others, and Use Your Voice to Change Attitudes and Raise Awareness

Image: from a supporter.

3. Be an Active Bystander and Challenge Abusive Behaviour

Over 80% of Edinburgh young people aged 12 – 25 have experienced some form of sexual harassment in a public place. Often, if you’re witness (or ‘bystander’) to this, it isn’t easy to know what to do: you may freeze with shock, you may want to do something but not be sure what, or you may feel scared to intervene in case the perpetrator turns their focus on you.

However there are things you can do, and by being an active bystander - someone who takes action when they witness something that’s not okay – you can make a real difference to helping survivors and sending the message to perpetrators and other bystanders that abusive behaviour isn’t okay.

Safety is your number one priority, and our colleagues at Hollaback! Edinburgh have developed some great bystander tips for what you can do to intervene safely if you witness abusive behaviour.

4. Challenge Gender Stereotypes

It’s called gender-based violence for a reason; because it stems from gender inequality, and attitudes about how people should be according to gender. By challenging gender stereotypes and expectations we challenge the root cause at the heart of GBV.

Above: Image from a supporter @StandUpRASASH

5. Change the Culture, One Conversation at a Time

Gender-based violence isn’t just about the actions, it’s about the attitudes, too, which can normalise it, excuse it, and consequently create a culture which facilitates it rather than calling it out. Examples of these base-line attitudes which may seem harmless, but which actually contribute to a bigger picture of gender-based violence, can include comments like “boys will be boys” to excuse harmful behaviour, using the word “gay” to refer to something or someone negatively, calling women “a tease”, and TV shows which make jokes of men using alcohol as a tool to control and violate women (“she says no now, but after a mojito…”). As these attitudes are seemingly common-place, a great way to challenge them (and stamp them out) is to talk about them and open up the conversation about what messages these kind of attitudes are sending, and whether or not we as a society are okay with that.

6. Critique Media Portrayals of Gender and Gender-Based Violence

“Whoever controls the media, the images, controls the culture” – Allen Ginsberg.

Above: Image from a support @Youngwomenscot

The images and actions we see in our media (films, TV, magazines) can directly influence a society’s ideas of what is and isn’t okay behaviour, and how we should treat people based on their gender, race, age, sexuality, or ability. For great examples illustrating the damaging impact of this, check out this video from the UK No More Page 3 campaign showing depictions of men and women in a national newspaper, and this compilation showing sexual violence in James Bond films.

7. Remember: Nobody 'Asks for It'

40% of people in Scotland believe that a woman may be at least partially responsible for being raped if she is drunk or wearing revealing clothing (Scot Cen, 2015). Attitudes which place responsibility on those who may potentially experience sexual violence to change their behaviour in order to avoid it, distract from the person who holds the true responsibility: the perpetrator. The blame for rape lies solely with the rapist, but by ‘victim-blaming’ we send a message to perpetrators which condones and minimises their actions. By challenging attitudes which blame survivors of rape we can instead send a message which supports survivors, and holds rapists accountable.

To help you do this, why not check out some of the campaigns run by Rape Crisis Scotland, including the Not Ever campaign and This Is Not an Invitation to Rape Me.

8. Choose Your Words – Language Matters

9. Rape Jokes Aren’t Funny – And We Need to Challenge Them

Image: from a supporter

10. Educate

In the words of one of ERCC’s very own change making young people: “How can we expect change if people aren’t educated?”

Image courtesy of our supporters @Youngwomenscot

To find out more about the sexual violence prevention education ERCC delivers in schools and other youth agencies, visit our website. Or, if you’d like to educate outside of the classroom why not share our blog on consent with your friends, family or colleagues? You can also write a blog on a topic to do with gender-based violence and share it with us.

11. It’s All Connected: Make the Link Between Attitudes and Actions

12. Be Aware of Local Services to Sign Post to

Being aware of what services are available for survivors of gender-based violence is a good idea, so that you are able to highlight where people can go for support should you or someone you know ever need to. The Women’s Support Project offers a great directory of services available Scotland wide.

Locally in Edinburgh there is a wealth of organisations which tackle gender-based violence – including ourselves at ERCC and agencies such as LGBT Youth Scotland, Shakti Women’s Aid, Edinburgh Women’s Aid and more. These agencies can provide a wealth of services, from being able to help survivors anonymously report to the police (known as third party reporting), to being able to provide safe accommodation for women and children fleeing domestic abuse (Shakti WA, Edinburgh WA).

Internationally, websites like hotpeachpages.net can help you track down services around the world.

13. And Support Those Local Services if You Can

Your local services need your support to help them continue the brilliant work they do. This could be by volunteering with them, fundraising for them, following them on social media, or even seeing if you can display leaflets about their organisation in your school, workplace or community centre.

To find out about how to support or fundraise for a service of choice you can contact them directly. If you’d like to support Edinburgh Rape Crisis, visit our fundraising page or our justgiving page.

14. Know The Facts

Sources: Rape Crisis Scotland, the World Health Organisation, and UN women (in order listed above).

15. Understand The Impact

Whether it is verbal, emotional, sexual or physical – the impact of gender-based violence can last a lifetime. For survivors the process often isn’t linear from A to B, and recovery can feel like a rollercoaster. It’s important that we try to understand the impacts of gender-based violence on survivors, so that we can better realise what they may be going through, and ensure that our responses are supportive and reflect their bravery, rather than judgemental.

Online sources like the work of Dr Nina Burrows can help both survivors and supporters understand the impacts of sexual violence. There are great training courses on gender-based violence available from agencies such as ourselves, the Scottish Transgender Alliance, and Scottish Women's Aid to name just a few! At ERCC we also offer prevention work with young people. Here in Edinburgh, Maria Stoian recently launched a book called Take it as a Compliment sharing survivors’ stories which powerfully details the impact sexual violence can have.

You can also visit Rape Crisis Scotland’s publication page – which includes information on trauma and more for survivors. You may also wish to view Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre’s support resource The Little Green Book, which is designed to help survivors.

16. Share This Blog

You made it to number 16! Share this blog, and all the information in it, as just one step to making people more aware of gender-based violence, and how to change it.

If we all act together, we can all make a difference. Even #oneaction can help create a change.