This Saturday we were proud to take part in Million Women Rise, an international march of women and girls against male violence.
Ahead of International Women’s Day, we joined together with women from across the UK and across the world to take a stand against male violence towards women and say: ‘Enough is enough. This must change.’
As IC Change, we did not only go to draw attention to the issue of violence against women in the UK, how it is affecting us, our friends, our families and our communities. We also went to highlight a key part of the solution, which is within reach: the Istanbul Convention.
If the Government ratifies the Istanbul Convention - making it law in the UK - it will have a legal obligation to take action on many of the issues raised at Million Women Rise. It will have to provide enough shelters for women fleeing domestic violence, rape crisis centres, and it will have to ensure that there are specialist services for BME women and disabled women. It will also have to ensure there is education in schools on violence against women and healthy relationships, as well as awareness-raising campaigns to tackle the root causes of violence against women. Find out more here about the Istanbul Convention and the change that it will bring if made law in the UK here.
We look forward to working with all the powerful women from Million Women Rise to make change happen.
What do you see in the Istanbul Convention? IC Change. IC an end to violence against women.
We need you! Get involved:
- Sign and share the petition.
- Keep up to date with the campaign by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook.
- Write to your MP to ask them to sign the Early Day Motion on the Istanbul Convention. (FYI - An Early Day Motion is basically like a petition for MPs to call for a debate on an issue - in this case, the Istanbul Convention. It really helps to draw attention to an issue and build support it amongst MPs).