Our rejection of the equivocation of VAWG with ‘terrorism’

We’ve raised our concerns about Zoe Billingham’s recent media statements in relation to her report into the police response into VAWG. We fervently reject her equivocation of VAWG with ‘terrorism’. This statement has also been repeated in the media by a number of white feminists believing that VAWG should be strategically prioritised by the police in the same way as ‘counter-terrorism’- and that we should increase funding for the criminal justice system. This is incredibly flawed. The equivocation of VAWG with ‘terrorism’ further others, targets, and profiles Black and minoritised communities that are already associated both by multi-sectoral agencies and the media as being identified as ‘terrorists’. Throwing additional money at a failing CJS system already in crisis with a focus on the criminalisation of individual perpetrators rather than intervention and prevention does not increase the safety of women and girls.