The End Violence against Women and Girls coalition has called for an end to the “racist weaponisation” of violence against women and girls to further an anti migrant agenda:

Over recent weeks, people claiming to care about the “safety of women and children” have left families, women and children living in temporary asylum accommodation afraid to leave their front door. They follow in the footsteps of the rioters who used the appalling murder of three young girls as an excuse to bring violence to our streets; with targeted attacks against migrant, minoritised and Muslim communities. That two out of five of those arrested for that disorder themselves had police histories of domestic abuse illustrates not only the pervasiveness of gender-based violence but the disingenuous nature of many of those who claim to have the interests of women and children at heart. Meanwhile, members of Parliament freely share false statistics about the nationality of perpetrators. Government ministers have even endorsed some of this summer’s demonstrators as having ‘legitimate’ concerns, which risks normalising and enabling the spreading of racist narratives by the far-right.

Not only do these falsehoods fail to keep women safe, they serve as a racist distraction that actively impedes the urgent work of addressing gender-based violence. Myths and misconceptions about sexual violence act as a barrier to justice for survivors. Spreading an inaccurate picture of VAWG in the UK allows the people – overwhelmingly men, from all walks of life – who harm women and girls to hide behind racial stereotypes and scapegoating. Meanwhile, hostile immigration policies propped up by this misinformation put many of the most marginalised women and survivors in the UK – racialised, migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women – at even greater risk of harm, destitution, homelessness, exploitation and criminalisation.

We have seen this sort of thing happen before when the right, many of whom have never lifted a finger to do anything for women’s rights in their lives, use women’s safety to demonise and target trans people. Of course that sort of behaviour was never going to stop there.

Andrea Simon the Director of the End Violence against Women coalition said:

The far-right has long exploited the cause of ending violence against women and girls to promote a racist, white supremacist agenda. These attacks against migrant and racialised communities are appalling and do nothing to improve women and girls’ autonomy, rights and freedoms. What’s more, they ignore the reality that most violence against women and girls is perpetrated by someone known to them.

The fight to end gender-based violence and uphold migrant rights are connected, as they rely on a world in which everyone’s human rights are respected. Political leaders must change course and play a positive role in working to build a better world for all.

On the same theme, Glamour magazine has interviews with three women from places where there have been riots and protests allegedly aimed at protecting women. All three reject the premise of these demonstrations. Theresa, from Wath-on-Dearne says:

What happened to the migrants? Were there just men in the hotel, or were there families there too? Did they come here to settle, for a better life? Were they fleeing war and persecution?

But also, doesn’t anyone look at the parallels? Where has hate ever got anyone? What riot has ever solved anything? Anti-Jewish riots happened before the Second World War (and many, many times before that). Did the riots change anything? Did the war? People don’t look closely enough to see the similarities. They just want to tell you why they’re justified. They don’t want to listen or learn, they just want to correct and spread misinformation.

If people actually want to do something to improve the lives of women, they might like to look at the discrimination and under-representation we face in virtually every area of life.

It’s disappointing that the party doesn’t seem to be tackling the racism implicit in these demonstrations outside hotels. Home Affairs spokesperson Lisa Smart’s only comment on the issue so far seems to be this:

The asylum backlog has been far too large for far too long.

The Conservatives trashed our immigration system and let numbers spiral. Now this Labour government is failing to get a grip on the crisis.

The Government urgently needs to stop dangerous Channel crossings and speed up asylum processing to bring down the backlog and end hotel use once and for all.

Surely to goodness we should be highlighting the misinformation of the far right. I feel that part of our job as a liberal party, and it’s also a chance to highlight our policies on ending violence against women and girls from last year’s General Election manifesto:

• Ensure that survivors of violence against women and girls and domestic abuse get the support they deserve by:

  • Fully implementing the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, with protections for all survivors regardless of nationality or immigration status.

  • Expanding the number of refuges and rape crisis centres to meet demand.

  • Ensuring sustainable funding for services to support survivors of domestic abuse, with a particular focus on community-based and specialist ‘by and for’ services.

  • Ensuring that survivors are properly supported within the criminal justice system, as set out in chapter 11.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social