Yorkshire domestic abuse service marks 16 days of action 25 November - 10 December 22

Independent Domestic Abuse Services (IDAS), Yorkshire’s largest specialist domestic abuse service, will mark the 16 days of action from 25th November – 10th December by hosting a series of webinars.

The 16 days of activism is a global campaign to end gender-based violence and abuse. Celebrated between the UN Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women (25th November) and the UN International Day of Human Rights (10th December) the campaign seeks to call everyone to action to tackle the prevailing pandemic of violence and abuse that women and girls are subjected to.

IDAS will be hosting a series of free webinars to discuss different types of abuse, bringing together professionals and people with lived experience of abuse to cover topics including Economic Abuse, Employment and Domestic abuse, to name a few.

Rachael (name changed to protect identity), a survivor of Economic Abuse, will speak about her experience of being forced to work a gruelling schedule yet never being allowed to have a say in how money was spent. Rachael ultimately had to file for bankruptcy due to the huge loans her ex had racked up, she was left with nothing.

Rachael* said, “He held my bank cards and driving licence. He constantly overspent and took huge risks, so we were unable to make repayments on loans or the mortgage. I constantly worried about money. I didn’t have any control over what we spent money on. I was under constant pressure to work; I’d say 60-70 hours each week for years. I worked right up until my son’s birth and started again the day after I left hospital, I didn’t have a choice.”

The webinars aim to highlight the impact of abuse but also to encourage people to consider what they can do to effectively respond to domestic abuse.

A spokesperson for IDAS said of the campaign:

We all have a role to play in tackling male violence against women and girls. We are putting on free webinars to help inform our communities about different types of abuse and the action they can take to effectively respond.

Most women and girls will experience some form of sexual harassment, sexual violence, or domestic abuse in their lifetime. This ranges from catcalling, staring and leud comments, to domestic homicide. It’s important that we see these behaviours as a spectrum. Whilst someone who catcalls a woman on the street may not go on to commit acts of violence, this treatment of women creates a culture where women are not free to move around in the world as equals to men and some men are emboldened in their abusive and violence behaviour.

In addition to webinars, IDAS have a dedicated website for the 16 days highlighting different types of gender-based violence with animations and survivor stories.

See https://16days.idas.org.uk/

Webinars