South Essex Rape and Incest Crisis Centre

Find out about some of the many UK campaigns that SERICC organises and supports:

Stripping The Illusion

"I increasingly, rather than getting dances, was making customers buy me a drink instead, and on more nights than I am too ashamed to admit, I would be so drunk that I would lose my dancing money, fight with other girls and customers and not remember getting back home. It was hell. It was dehumanising, soul destroying and filled with desperation". Liz, former lap dancer.

"Just by being there you're acknowledging that you are something that men can pick and choose from, in that dehumanising way... the point about lap-dancing clubs is to ask what they represent culturally and what they do to all of us". Elena, former lap dancer.

Lap dance clubs normalise seeing women as sex objects, not people; reinforce gender sterotypes and are a form of commercial sexual exploitation. A licensing regime in which lap dance clubs fall into the same category as cafes and restaurants has helped mainstream them into everyday life.

Stripping the Illusion, the campaign stripping the illusion that buying a lap dance has no greater social impact than buying a capuccino, is at an important stage.

The deadline for the Government's consultation with local councils on the issue is Friday 15th August.

The Fawcett Society

Object has joined forces with The Fawcett Society to call on the Government to end licensing of lap dancing clubs as cafes. Together we will be working hard to maintain momentum on this important issue.

Objectactivist lobbying

Object supporters continue to play a crucial role in lobbying for reform of lap dance club licensing. This has seen the National Organisation of Resident's Association (NORA) support the campaign and consideration of the issue by Primary Care Trusts.

Petition the Prime Minister

Sign our online petition to Number Ten by visiting petitions.pm.gov.uk/lapdancing. Please send this email to your friends, family and colleagues and ask them to pledge their support.

Object membership and activism

STRIPPING THE ILLUSION: The campaign to end licensing of lap dance clubs as cafes, Object today!

For more information on Challenging Objectification, visit www.object.org.uk
Updated 5th August 2008

Refuge, national domestic violence charity, launches campaign to save lives

With two women being killed every week in England and Wales by a current of former partner, national domestic violence charity Refuge has launched a hard hitting early warning signs domestic violence campaign to save lives. The early warning signs campaign launches in the press on 5th August 2008 and on poster sites later in August 2008.

Domestic violence is the biggest social issue affecting women in the country today - it is an issue which not only takes lives but ruins lives in great number. Refuge's campaign will help women recognise the early warning signs of domestic violence and in so doing prevent them from a life time of abuse.

Research, also released today by Refuge, highlights a worrying lack of awareness amongst women of the techniques used by violent men to control women. However, domestic violence is a subject matter that young women are crying out to learn more about.

(Yougov/Refuge research, sample size 513, 18-21 year old women, 15-21 July 2008)

Sandra Horley, OBE and chief executive of Refuge, says: "Two women are killed every week by a current or former partner. This is a huge statistic and one that we need to start addressing - and addressing fast if we're to save lives and protect young women in the future."

Change the Picture

Change the Picture: A photography and self advocacy project for female sex workers in East London. Subscribe to the campaign and receive the postcards: www.photovoice.org - epostcards.

Change the Picture is a participatory photography and self advocacy project for young female sex workers in East London. Change the Picture works through an innovative new women's centre in London.

With the women's consent, their photographic work will be used to raise awareness of a 'hidden' issue and its underlying causes. Their work will shed light on the women's needs and views, will heighten public awareness and, where possible, will feed into government papers and policy.

If you are aware of a family member or a friend who has been coerced into prostitution or you need support or advice, you can call U-Turn on: 020 8983 1553 (office), 07980 548 532 (mobile). They will call you back if you wish.
All calls are treated in a strictest of confidence.

Sexual Violence & Rape Crisis

The number of Rape Crisis-affiliated centres in England and Wales has nearly halved from 68 to 38 since 1984. The New Statesman believes this is a failure of successive governments and in the coming weeks will be mounting a campaign for proper funding for this vital service.

Sexual violence is a blight - the British Crime Survey suggests there are more than 300,000 rapes and serious sexual assaults each year. Most are not reported. One in four women have experience rape or attempted rape. One in seven women have been coerced into sex. Yet conviction rates have plummeted from 33% in the 1970s to around 5% now. This brings shame on us all. Rape Crisis have provided help for countless victims of sexual violence many of whom only come forward years after being attacked. As we will demonstrate here in the coming weeks, this is vital support and it needs proper funding. The Conservatives and Lib Dems are backing our campaign as are a number of key organisations such as End Violence Against Women and the Fawcett Society.

In the coming weeks, the New Statesman will publish articles on sexual violence from a number of contributors including Bea Campbell, Theresa May, Trevor Phillips, Professor Liz Kelly, Prof. Joanna Bourke and many more. Visit: www.newstatesman.com

Take Action

You can help too by adding your name to this Downing Street petition:
Sexual Violence & Rape Crisis Petition - petitions.pm.gov.uk/RapeCrisis

You could also write to your MP - The New Statesman has links to all key web sites: www.newstatesman.com/action

Celebrating the Life of Dame Anita Roddick

On 23 October 2007, thousands of thinkers, artists, activists, and other heroic saboteurs of the status quo gathered to celebrate the remarkable life and legacy of Dame Anita Roddick. You can now buy a DVD of this special occasion. All proceeds from the sale of the DVD will go towards continuing Dame Anita's activist work through I Am An Activist.

This footage was captured to enable attendees, and those that weren't able to attend, to watch and listen to figures from Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Reprieve, The Body Shop, as well as family and close friends, as they laugh and cry and ultimately take to the streets to launch.

Selected Quotes From Some of the Speakers at I AM AN ACTIVIST

"[Anita was] the human equivalent of a flag, a claxon, a torch, a flare, an alarm clock. ... Uncompromising, inspiring and visionary, an active world citizen, but still funny, sexy, and overflowing."
Alan Rickman, actor and activist

"Beethoven said, 'If it comes from the heart, it goes to the heart.' That quote speaks volumes about my mum. I believe it is the reason my mum touched so many people. Whether you agreed with her or not, or whether you liked her or not, the one thing that is really non-negotiable, the one thing that is not up for discussion, is that all she did as a parent or as an activist, it really all did come from the heart."
Justine Roddick

"My mother treated life like each day was her last, and this gave her the permission for incredible bravery. ... Tonight I am personally pledging that I Am An Activist, and within that, I also will have a lot of fun, and I also will be silly. I will not be polite and I will never, ever, ask for permission."
Sam Roddick

"Many have the resources Anita had, but few have the moral fortitude to use those resources to achieve the only truly important goal of social and environmental sustainability."
Herman Wallace, member of the Angola 3 Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola

"She was, in my opinion, one of the world's greatest communicators."
Adrian Bellamy, Chairman of The Body Shop

Justice for rape victims: Join the campaign

Fawcett has launched a new campaign for justice for victims of rape. Take action and help make a difference.

Every 34 minutes a rape is reported to the police in the United Kingdom. Thousands more victims do not come forward. Yet three-quarters of local authorities have no services for rape victims and only one in twenty rapes reported to the police leads to a conviction. This failure to bring rapists to justice amounts to a near licence to rape. Women are being failed by the criminal justice system, and left with nowhere to turn for support. Fawcett wants your help to make a difference.

Map of Gaps - e-Petition to end the postcode lottery of violence against women support services

End Violence Against Women (EVAW) petition

Following the very successful launch of the Map of Gaps report, EVAW has set up a petition calling on the government to take urgent action to end the postcode lottery in violence against women support services.

The petition urges the Prime Minister to take a more strategic approach to ending all forms of violence against women, including a commitment to long-term funding of specialised violence against women services.

Map of Gaps: the postcode lottery of violence against women support services

EVAW and the new Equality and Human Rights Commission, has published a report, Map of Gaps, showing graphically, for the first time, the postcode lottery of violence against women support services.

The stark fact is that every year, 3 million women in the UK suffer rape, trafficking, harassment, forced marriage, domestic violence or some other form of gender-based violence. Specialised services, such as Rape Crisis Centres and refuges, are essential to help women deal with the immediate crisis, support them through the justice system, and help them move on with their lives.

Yet provision is patchy in most parts of the UK and in some places there are no services at all. We have already witnessed a tide of closures and many more face closure because of a funding crisis in the sector.

EVAW and the Commission are calling for the government and local authorities to take urgent action to stem the tide of closures and ensure that all women have access to these vital services.

"It's time to plug the gaps", says Liz Kelly, Chair of End Violence Against Women, "It is simply too costly to continue with the current situation. Women deserve access to quality support services."

To see the Map of Gaps report, which highlights the current problems in provision of services across the UK, visit www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk
Updated 5th December 2007

I-AM-AN-ACTIVIST

"I Am An Activist" has put together a slideshow from the Dame Anita Roddick tribute which was held in London on October 23rd.

Please visit www.iamanactivist.org and follow the link on the home page.
Updated 22nd November 2007

White Ribbon Campaign

The White Ribbon Campaign UK is the UK branch of the global campaign to ensure men take more responsibility for reducing the level of violence against women.

Take Back The Tech!

"Take Back The Tech!" is initiated and organised by the Association for Progressive Communications, Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP).

We are a global network of women who support women networking for social change and women's empowerment, through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).

We promote gender equality in the design, development, implementation, access to and use of ICTs, and in the policy decisions and frameworks that regulate them.

Our network numbers over 100 women from more than 35 countries. They are individual women and women's groups and organisations working in the field of gender and ICT and actively supporting women's networking. Our members have formed themselves into regional networks in Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and are building an emerging network in Europe.

We are part of the Association for Progressive Communication (APC), an international network of civil society organisations dedicated to empowering and supporting groups and individuals working for peace, human rights, development and protection of the environment, through the strategic use of ICTs, including the internet.

London Feminist Network Campaign: I did not ask for it

Picture of long-sleeve black top and long patterned skirt with 'I did not ask for it' statement.

"I was wearing these clothes when I was harrassed on my way to work. I was passing an Ann Summers store that had some very provocative black bondage-style underwear in the window, when a man accosted me, laughing and shouting and indicating how fun it would be to see me in the aforementioned undergarments. He followed me shouting loudly until he spotted another victim."

Inspired by the women's dirty laundry project in India and the Clothesline Project in the USA, we are starting a "I Did Not Ask For It" campaign here in the UK. Initially we plan to create a blogsite (to be announced) of images, but ultimately we plan to make a public installation.

The Campaign is asking women across the country to send in a photo of a garment or the garment itself, which you were wearing (or is similar to what you were wearing) when you were sexually harassed or assaulted.

Use your creativity to mark the garment in some way. For example, you could write "I Did Not Ask For It" in marker pen or fabric paint on a t-shirt, or embroider "I Did Not Ask For It" onto a vest, or draw, paint or digitally design the message "I Did Not Ask For It" on paper and photograph that message on or pinned to a dress or pair of jeans.

The possibilities are endless. Feel free to add to the message "I Did Not Ask For It" with further words, pictures or images of your choice.

The whole point is to highlight that male violence and harrasment is about male power and not about what women wear or drink or do or where we go. This will be made visual because the garments will obviously range from boiler suits to short skirts.

We realise this is a sensitive subject, but we want to air these issues in public - because the shame is not ours. So let's hang the washing out to dry and shame all those men who view our bodies as public property.

The Campaign will collect the items and build up the exhibition. Your name will not be made public unless you indicate you are happy for it to be so.
Updated 1st August 2007

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans (LGBT) History Month

Celebrate LGBT History month. February of each year has been set aside in the UK to mark and celebrate the lives and achievements of Lesbian, Gay Bisexual and Trans people. LGBT History Month is an opportunity for everyone to learn more about the histories of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Britain and Northern Ireland.

Until recently, most LGBT people preferred to avoid attention. Many still do. Even today, the penalties for those who refuse to conceal themselves, or fail to do so, can be severe. They can range from ostracism and victimisation to assault and even murder.

In the past, the silencing of LGBT people was often reinforced by legislation. The most recent example was Section 28, passed in 1988 and repealed in 2003, which was intended to restrict debate on homosexuality, particularly in schools. For further information on current legislation see: www.schoolsout.org.uk/resources/legislation/contents.htm

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