In July, police warned that violence against women and girls had grown into a national emergency – reporting that at least one in every 12 women in England and Wales is a victim of VAWG each year. As violently misogynistic online influencers – what is commonly referred to as the ‘manosphere’ – gain steam among young men and teenagers, hopes of these figures decreasing has begun to dwindle. In this panel, we’re joined by representatives from some of Britain’s leading campaign groups against rape culture to discuss how to fight this epidemic, and how to cut it off at its roots.

Panelists:

Phoebe Nicholson-Pallett
Phoebe Nicholson-Pallett has a decade’s experience working in the Violence Against Women and Girls sector. This includes both delivering frontline support services to female survivors of domestic and sexual violence, as well as conducting primary and secondary policy research in this area. Phoebe currently works as Senior Research and Policy Officer at Women’s Aid Federation of England, who in 2023 published far-reaching report, Influencers and attitudes, to ensure an evidence base for the design of education about relationships for children and young people (CYP). The findings of this report showed a direct correlation between potentially harmful social media content and unhealthy perceptions of, and attitudes towards,relationships.
Dawn Dines
Dawn Dines has been campaigning against spiking for 20 years. Dawn is passionate about empowering young people to keep themselves safe, by running educational workshops on alcohol & drug awareness, knife crime & anti-social behaviour cyber bullying and internet safety. She has also worked with local authorities, supporting children in care and in secure units. She is the CEO and founder of StopTopps and Stamp Out Spiking.
Emma Armstrong
Emma Armstrong is the CEO of I Choose Freedom, a charity that provides a path to freedom and refuge to survivors fleeing domestic abuse. Emma is a survivor herself and was recently asked to take part in the ITV documentary Her Majesty The Queen Behind Closed Doors. Emma is passionate about raising awareness of the issues of domestic abuse and creates and delivers training to challenge and change outdated views on the subject.
Chris Green
Chrs Green is the founder of White Ribbon (UK) and the co-founder of Male Allies Challenging Sexism. From 2005 to 2008, he was appointed to be a member of the Council of Europe Task Force to combt Violence against Women which formulated and obtained funding to create the Istanbul Convention, now ratified by 26 European countries. Chris jas worked with more than 20 different womens organisations.