Violence against women 'rooted in stereotypes'

A county's new strategy to protect women and girls has said violence against them is "rooted in harmful social norms and gender stereotypes".

The strategy is being drawn up by a partnership that links Hertfordshire County Council, police, health providers and charities.

The authors said they want the county to be a safe place where "abuse is not tolerated and victims are properly supported".

One organisation that supports women said it was concerned local government reorganisation in Hertfordshire could make the strategy less effective.

The authors of the strategy said they spoke to over 40 survivors of violence against women and girls (VAWG) and had feedback from 3,000 residents of Hertfordshire.

One of strategy's priorities is acting before any harm occurs, to tackle the root cause of the problem.

It stated children "quickly start to feel the pressure of gender stereotypes... and beliefs like 'women should be kind and caring' and 'men should be strong and not show their emotions' can reinforce gender inequality in later life".

It suggested that working with education providers from nurseries to colleges to educate children is part of the solution.

And also that agencies should work together to identify offenders and victims and "avoid missed opportunities for prevention".

Victims should get easier access to a wide range of support, according to the document.

The strategy has been welcomed by the women's organisation, Soroptimist International St Albans, which will be organising events later this year to coincide with the UN's Orange the World campaign.

Jane Slatter, from the group, said: "I'm really proud of Hertfordshire for putting this plan together."

However, she added that using "violence" in the title of the strategy may limit its effectiveness.

"I think 'abuse' would be more helpful - some women don't think they're being abused because 'he doesn't hit me, he's a nice man'," she added.

Slatter is also concerned that the forthcoming local government reorganisation, which is likely to see Hertfordshire's councils abolished and replaced by a smaller number of unitary authorities, could make it difficult to implrment the strategy.

She said: "It makes it much harder to implement something if you don't know where your funding is going to come from - how's that going to work?".

The strategy will be officially launched later this month.

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