Kemi Badenoch’s attempt to blame violence against women on migrants doesn’t just collapse under scrutiny - it actively distracts us from where the harm really happens, and who is actually responsible.
It's just the utter facile nature of an argument against education that really rankles. Because someone doesn't do something at age 11 they shouldn't be educated, so their future self does or does not do a thing. Simple truth that if we didnt educate 11 year olds in the facts, skills and societal norms we would be living in anarchy and have no skilled adults in the future - by trying to score cheap points she loses the bigger reality. Truly a failed miserable excuse for a political leader.
This is particularly shocking from Badenoch, a betrayal of all those women and girls who have suffered harm from men they know, from our own 'culture'. She is a disgrace.
It is consistent with the racism and nationalism that underpins so much of the rights policies and rhetoric. Brexit was about blaming those nasty European for home grown failings, as well as immigration. Migrants are blamed for housing shortages and costs, again little or nothing to do with them. And that takes us to violent sex crimes which are part of the same narrative thread.
So call it what it is. Racist nationalism that does nothing to address the real problems which are more about decades of failed economic policies.
Agree Bear. But would like to highlight that there is significant improvement in clearly moving away from the traditional response of victim blaming the women. Small yes, but still a step.
Spot on Mr Bear. Obviously Bad Enoch is more concerned about political capital than being a grown up. Regarding the problem of VAWG and sexual abuse of children I can say two things with absolute certainty. Both based on my 30 years in the police with the biggest part being spent as a DI in safeguarding. The first point is that the most dangerous place for too many women and children is at home. The second point is that the general public just can’t or won’t accept that fact.
Education of young men is so important. I remember well the targeted education of boys who lived in DA homes. Intervention aimed at breaking the cycle of abuse and showing them that they didn’t have to behave like the violent man/father etc in their home. Sadly the Tories cut that funding!
Even now we only scratch the surface of the abuse which takes places behind closed doors and whilst the new drive announced by the Govt is laudable it is simply not enough.
The idea that “foreign imports” have caused these problems is laughable. 40 years ago I was representing women whose lives were ruined by the violence of their partners and acting in care cases where local authorities sought the removal of the children due to physical violence or sexual abuse.
Contrary to popular myth the latter was by no means always attributable to step fathers or baby sitters; it was often familial and ingrained over several generations. These were virtually all British white families.
It’s all too convenient for politicians like Badenoch to ignore these inconvenient truths and opt for blaming immigrants in order to attract her racist base.
Back in 1987 I prosecuted my (soon to be ex) husband for DV. Apparently it was a pretty new thing for DV between spouses to be a crime back then. I was also told that 97% of victims dropped their complaint before it made it to court.
If the way the police treated me AND the case itself was typical at the time I'm not surprised.
The 2 that particularly stood out was first the visit I had from 2 plainclothes detectives who advised me to drop the case as "the magistrate is never going to take the word of an ugly old tart like you against the word of that fine upstanding young man"
The second was in court when the police presented only photo copies of the hospital reports. That would have been ok if they carried original signatures beside the copied ones but of course they didn't so they were inadmissable. The magistrate said there had been enough adjournments already so he wasn't going to give the police more time to get the signatures so case dismissed. (There hadn't been any adjournments, I would have known)
Things have improved slightly since then - eg the victim no longer has to support the prosecution for it to go ahead - but the attitude of victim blaming and overall misogyny from the police has not.
About 5 years ago, I was walking with my daughter when we saw a friend's son with his girlfriend and I made a mildly judgemental positive comment only to be roundly admonished by my daughter. That was the first time I realised how misogynistic my education had been since primary school. It was a major wake-up call that made me reassess what one should think and how to attribute equal status. We men from a young age do tend to think of women as objects to admire in appearance, restrict their activities, and assume they are less capable physically and mentally - because that has been normalised for centuries. It is, of course, absolutely wrong, and changing a traditional acceptance has to start young for both boys and girls. It should not be for men to dictate what girls do or wear or say. Badenoch misconceived the labour intentions. Sort out the early education and it should be less likely to result in domestic violence later in life. Ogling girls or boys as objects should be discouraged.
Badenoch clearly missed the Adolescence memo and the reports that have been warning of the worringly easy access to pornography children have nowadays, with kids as young as 7 having been exposed to it. This is obviously a very complex and multi layered issue but the core of the pro blem is that younger generations everywhere seem to be going backwards when it comes to attitudes towards violence against women.
Slightly irrelevant to this discussion as the British born assailant in that case was severely mentally ill rather than inherently misogynistic that we know of. It was surprise surprise mental health services that failed society in that instance.
It's just the utter facile nature of an argument against education that really rankles. Because someone doesn't do something at age 11 they shouldn't be educated, so their future self does or does not do a thing. Simple truth that if we didnt educate 11 year olds in the facts, skills and societal norms we would be living in anarchy and have no skilled adults in the future - by trying to score cheap points she loses the bigger reality. Truly a failed miserable excuse for a political leader.
This is particularly shocking from Badenoch, a betrayal of all those women and girls who have suffered harm from men they know, from our own 'culture'. She is a disgrace.
Well said, Bear. Was it the Jesuits that said “Give me the boy and I will give you the man."
It is consistent with the racism and nationalism that underpins so much of the rights policies and rhetoric. Brexit was about blaming those nasty European for home grown failings, as well as immigration. Migrants are blamed for housing shortages and costs, again little or nothing to do with them. And that takes us to violent sex crimes which are part of the same narrative thread.
So call it what it is. Racist nationalism that does nothing to address the real problems which are more about decades of failed economic policies.
Agree Bear. But would like to highlight that there is significant improvement in clearly moving away from the traditional response of victim blaming the women. Small yes, but still a step.
Spot on Mr Bear. Obviously Bad Enoch is more concerned about political capital than being a grown up. Regarding the problem of VAWG and sexual abuse of children I can say two things with absolute certainty. Both based on my 30 years in the police with the biggest part being spent as a DI in safeguarding. The first point is that the most dangerous place for too many women and children is at home. The second point is that the general public just can’t or won’t accept that fact.
Education of young men is so important. I remember well the targeted education of boys who lived in DA homes. Intervention aimed at breaking the cycle of abuse and showing them that they didn’t have to behave like the violent man/father etc in their home. Sadly the Tories cut that funding!
Even now we only scratch the surface of the abuse which takes places behind closed doors and whilst the new drive announced by the Govt is laudable it is simply not enough.
The idea that “foreign imports” have caused these problems is laughable. 40 years ago I was representing women whose lives were ruined by the violence of their partners and acting in care cases where local authorities sought the removal of the children due to physical violence or sexual abuse.
Contrary to popular myth the latter was by no means always attributable to step fathers or baby sitters; it was often familial and ingrained over several generations. These were virtually all British white families.
It’s all too convenient for politicians like Badenoch to ignore these inconvenient truths and opt for blaming immigrants in order to attract her racist base.
Back in 1987 I prosecuted my (soon to be ex) husband for DV. Apparently it was a pretty new thing for DV between spouses to be a crime back then. I was also told that 97% of victims dropped their complaint before it made it to court.
If the way the police treated me AND the case itself was typical at the time I'm not surprised.
The 2 that particularly stood out was first the visit I had from 2 plainclothes detectives who advised me to drop the case as "the magistrate is never going to take the word of an ugly old tart like you against the word of that fine upstanding young man"
The second was in court when the police presented only photo copies of the hospital reports. That would have been ok if they carried original signatures beside the copied ones but of course they didn't so they were inadmissable. The magistrate said there had been enough adjournments already so he wasn't going to give the police more time to get the signatures so case dismissed. (There hadn't been any adjournments, I would have known)
Things have improved slightly since then - eg the victim no longer has to support the prosecution for it to go ahead - but the attitude of victim blaming and overall misogyny from the police has not.
(Un)surprisingly, not one of the perpetrators against me was "imported". Neither were they anything other than white.
About 5 years ago, I was walking with my daughter when we saw a friend's son with his girlfriend and I made a mildly judgemental positive comment only to be roundly admonished by my daughter. That was the first time I realised how misogynistic my education had been since primary school. It was a major wake-up call that made me reassess what one should think and how to attribute equal status. We men from a young age do tend to think of women as objects to admire in appearance, restrict their activities, and assume they are less capable physically and mentally - because that has been normalised for centuries. It is, of course, absolutely wrong, and changing a traditional acceptance has to start young for both boys and girls. It should not be for men to dictate what girls do or wear or say. Badenoch misconceived the labour intentions. Sort out the early education and it should be less likely to result in domestic violence later in life. Ogling girls or boys as objects should be discouraged.
Badenoch clearly missed the Adolescence memo and the reports that have been warning of the worringly easy access to pornography children have nowadays, with kids as young as 7 having been exposed to it. This is obviously a very complex and multi layered issue but the core of the pro blem is that younger generations everywhere seem to be going backwards when it comes to attitudes towards violence against women.
Thank you.
Some folk, sadly, should be looking closer to home. Badenoch's statement is outrageous...but, anything goes now.......stop the world......
Slightly irrelevant to this discussion as the British born assailant in that case was severely mentally ill rather than inherently misogynistic that we know of. It was surprise surprise mental health services that failed society in that instance.