Below is an open letter from Glasgow Women's Activist Forum to Occupy Glasgow. If your organisation would like to sign the letter, please email 
glasgowwomensactivistforum@gmail.com
glasgowwomensactivistforum@gmail.com
We, the undersigned, are writing to those involved in the Occupy Glasgow protest because our voices have hitherto been marginalised and our concerns systematically ignored in the days following the rape that occurred at the protest on Tuesd...ay.
Our decision to write this letter is not based on political or ideological rejections of the Occupy movement, but is motivated by a very real concern for the physical and emotional well-being of all those involved in Occupy Glasgow, with specific concern for women and vulnerable people.
We believe that those involved in the protest failed to ensure the safety of its participants. The safety of the most vulnerable amongst us must be paramount in any organisation or movement, and a failure to construct and implement a system which ensures the safety of all its participants constitutes a failure of the movement as a whole.
In light of the gang rape that took place on Tuesday, we condemn the decision to continue with the occupation. Not only does the rape itself constitute reason enough to end the protest, but the reaction in the days which have followed has only convinced us further.
Allowing rape apology, victim blaming, and accusations of 'fabrication' or 'conspiracy to bring the occupation to and end' to be voiced in statements both on the official Occupy Glasgow facebook page and at General Assemblies without question demonstrates a complete failure of those involved to grasp the severity of the incident.
There has been insufficient effort to make necessary changes to the physical space or the safer spaces policy following the attack.
Women remain at high risk at Occupy Glasgow, and openly voiced this at the women's meeting on Friday 28th October. Prior to Tuesday, verbal and physical intimidation had been reported by occupiers to the group, yet these issues were not addressed.
It is extremely alarming that women at the occupation confirmed that the group only reported the rape after a group decision was taken to do so. Even after members of the occupation took this decision - which, we cannot stress enough, was not theirs to take - the occupation continued to refer to the rape as 'alleged'.
Our decision to write an open letter followed attempts to reach out to Occupy Glasgow by attending General Assemblies. However, women who have attended meetings and facilitated workshops have experienced verbal and physical intimidation from occupiers, leaving us no option but to make this official appeal to the women of Occupy Glasgow to take our concerns seriously.
We consider this matter urgent, and cannot stress enough that this appeal is motivated purely by our desire to create safe spaces for women not just within activist movements, but everywhere in society.
Glasgow Women's Activist Forum
Our decision to write this letter is not based on political or ideological rejections of the Occupy movement, but is motivated by a very real concern for the physical and emotional well-being of all those involved in Occupy Glasgow, with specific concern for women and vulnerable people.
We believe that those involved in the protest failed to ensure the safety of its participants. The safety of the most vulnerable amongst us must be paramount in any organisation or movement, and a failure to construct and implement a system which ensures the safety of all its participants constitutes a failure of the movement as a whole.
In light of the gang rape that took place on Tuesday, we condemn the decision to continue with the occupation. Not only does the rape itself constitute reason enough to end the protest, but the reaction in the days which have followed has only convinced us further.
Allowing rape apology, victim blaming, and accusations of 'fabrication' or 'conspiracy to bring the occupation to and end' to be voiced in statements both on the official Occupy Glasgow facebook page and at General Assemblies without question demonstrates a complete failure of those involved to grasp the severity of the incident.
There has been insufficient effort to make necessary changes to the physical space or the safer spaces policy following the attack.
Women remain at high risk at Occupy Glasgow, and openly voiced this at the women's meeting on Friday 28th October. Prior to Tuesday, verbal and physical intimidation had been reported by occupiers to the group, yet these issues were not addressed.
It is extremely alarming that women at the occupation confirmed that the group only reported the rape after a group decision was taken to do so. Even after members of the occupation took this decision - which, we cannot stress enough, was not theirs to take - the occupation continued to refer to the rape as 'alleged'.
Our decision to write an open letter followed attempts to reach out to Occupy Glasgow by attending General Assemblies. However, women who have attended meetings and facilitated workshops have experienced verbal and physical intimidation from occupiers, leaving us no option but to make this official appeal to the women of Occupy Glasgow to take our concerns seriously.
We consider this matter urgent, and cannot stress enough that this appeal is motivated purely by our desire to create safe spaces for women not just within activist movements, but everywhere in society.
Glasgow Women's Activist Forum
Homepage:
Comments
Hide the following 9 comments
Nobody can ensure safety
01.11.2011 18:41
Back on planet earth it is impossible to "implement a system which ensures the safety of all its participants". The best which can be done is to do what is reasonable and practical to try and ensure the safety of everyone, but there are only two 100% guarantees on planet earth.
That is not to say that I am unsympathetic with the aim of minimising the chances of this alleged attack happening again. If there are reasonable and practical things which can be changed then that should be done.
The use of the word alleged is correct. There is a whole industry which swings into action to support alleged victims of crime. When those allegations are proven to be false in the courts this industry is deafeningly silent and does bugger all to support the victim of the false accusations.
A N Other
Let's not play language games
01.11.2011 19:41
You just seem to be playing language games. You say ...
> it is impossible to "implement a system which ensures the safety of all its participants".
Well it depends of the definition of ensure. In one sense, it can mean guarantee - my phone comes with a guarantee. This doesn't mean it won't fail, but it does mean I will get redress if it does.
It's all to easy to try an invalidate somebody's point by picking at language, but it doesn't address the underlying issue. Here's an example. You say ...
> the chances of this alleged attack happening again
Unless you have a time machine, there is no chance of this happening again. I think you meant a similar event happening again. See. It's quite easy.
So, putting aside the language issues ...
>If there are reasonable and practical things which can be changed then that should be done.
The thrust of the letter is clear that they have not been, despite several people's efforts. "There has been insufficient effort to make necessary changes to the physical space or the safer spaces policy following the attack."
> There is a whole industry which swings into action to support alleged victims of crime.
Not for women victims of violence. This isn't my opinion, it's research
Finally, your insistence on the word alleged is legalistic. It does not reflect the lived experience of people who experience assault. Your failure to show any empathy in this area is quite stunning.
You, AN Other, based on your comment, appear to be somebody who attacks the language of an issue rather than the substance, and makes sweeping statements based on opinion in disregard of facts. I hope I am wrong, and invite you to clarify your stance.
David
Glasgow and Edinburgh Anti-Fascists should provide discreet security?
02.11.2011 09:45
Global
Open letter from Glasgow Women's Activist Forum to Occupy Glasgow.(edit)
02.11.2011 10:00
We, the undersigned, are writing to those involved in the Occupy Glasgow protest because our voices have hitherto been marginalised and our concerns systematically ignored in the days following the rape that occurred at the protest on Tuesday.
Our decision to write this letter is not based on political or ideological rejections of the Occupy movement, but is motivated by a very real concern for the physical and emotional well-being of all those involved in Occupy Glasgow, with specific concern for women and vulnerable people.
We believe that those involved in the protest failed to ensure the safety of its participants. The safety of the most vulnerable amongst us must be paramount in any organisation or movement, and a failure to construct and implement a system which ensures the safety of all its participants constitutes a failure of the movement as a whole.
In light of the gang rape that took place on Tuesday, we condemn the decision to continue with the occupation. Not only does the rape itself constitute reason enough to end the protest, but the reaction in the days which have followed has only convinced us further.
Allowing rape apology, victim blaming, and accusations of 'fabrication' or 'conspiracy to bring the occupation to and end' to be voiced in statements both on the official Occupy Glasgow facebook page and at General Assemblies without question demonstrates a complete failure of those involved to grasp the severity of the incident.
There has been insufficient effort to make necessary changes to the physical space or the safer spaces policy following the attack.
Women remain at high risk at Occupy Glasgow, and openly voiced this at the women's meeting on Friday 28th October. Prior to Tuesday, verbal and physical intimidation had been reported by occupiers to the group, yet these issues were not addressed.
Our decision to write an open letter followed attempts to reach out to Occupy Glasgow by attending General Assemblies. However, women who have attended meetings and facilitated workshops have experienced verbal and physical intimidation from occupiers, leaving us no option but to make this official appeal to the women of Occupy Glasgow to take our concerns seriously.
We consider this matter urgent, and cannot stress enough that this appeal is motivated purely by our desire to create safe spaces for women not just within activist movements, but everywhere in society.
Glasgow Women's Activist Forum
Homepage:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Glasgow-Womens-Activist-Forum/103000756480016
Called the police !!!
02.11.2011 12:32
The irony is probably beyond you
Amazed
Global ...
02.11.2011 14:14
1) The police's compassion, understanding and general sympathy towards rape victims is practically non-existent. The cops have always been the biggest proponent of victim-blaming, followed shortly by the media.
2) Taking to the witness stand is akin to reliving the rape. You are forced to defend yourself against a barrage of cynical nit-picking character-trashing, embarassing, upsetting questions by a lawyer (usually a man) who is being paid to say anything if it might question the rape victim's story.
3) The vast majority of rapes are never even reported out of fear of victim-blaming, embarassment in a silencing culture, etc etc etc. And of those that are reported, the conviction rate is shockingly low compared to other crimes.
There are some obvious reasons for this low conviction rate .. (1) we live in a patriarchal society that will always protect its own, (2) the question is framed entirely incorrectly, so that a woman has to have clearly, categorically and confidently have said no for there to be any wrongdoing. But there is another reason too. Rape is simply not a situation that can be dealt with adequately by the rule of law. The entire concept of consent is a weak attempt to bring rape under a legalistic banner. What is important is physical and mental damage done, and you cannot simplify that down to whether a woman said yes or no ... it ignores manipulation, power structures etc.
Public compassion is also limited. It is influenced by politicians and hacks, leading the charge with vitriolic attacks on ... the women who suffer rapes. Just the other day Eamon Holmes criticised a rape survivor on TV for not taking a taxi instead of walking the 2 roads back to her home - blaming women for trying to walk down their own streets and not having the obscene amount of spare cash you'd need to take taxis everywhere after dark. "Feminism" is essentially a dirty word outside activist circles now.
So (as a proud anarchist I might add) I believe women deserve our full support in the wake of rape, no matter what course of action they choose to take - be it through the cops, through a lynch mob, or indeed taking no action except to try to forget about it. We can strut our stuff boasting our anti-police beliefs all we want, but if a woman wants to report her rapist to the cops I couldn't be less sympathetic to the rapist. We don't live in an ideal world, neither us nor the cops has a perfect way of dealing with rape.
narko
utter nonsense
02.11.2011 18:10
No one is doing victim blaming in this case.
What is occurring is blaming the organisers of the protest (who ever they are)
Which is nonsense as well. This is like listening to the injury-4-u compensation schemes
>>>> Well it depends of the definition of ensure. In one sense, it can mean guarantee - my phone comes with a guarantee. This doesn't mean it won't fail, but it does mean I will get redress if it does.
Redress!!!!!!!! And who exactly is going to stump up this 'guarantee' ? You?
So somebody who organises a protest should make sure they have a stack of cash ready in case anybody gets raped and wants 'redress'? You are a tit.
Im going to be accused of victim-blaming, but here are the facts:
The world is a bad, bad place.
You are an adult
You take responsibility for yourself
Your decisions are your own
It is no use blaming someone else (except the rapists), for you predicament
You've done nothing wrong, but you have took a risk. In the same way a mountain climber decides to climb a high grade pitch, they do it knowing the risks. If it turns out bad - they only have themselves to blame.
A rape victim who wears scanty clothing and walks through a deserted park at night is knowingly taking a risk. If she gets raped, then that isn't her fault, but she can't blame anybody else either. She took the risk/reward (shortcut),.... it didn't pay off, therefore she should only blame herself.
days gone by
to days gone by
02.11.2011 19:19
> Redress!!!!!!!! And who exactly is going to stump up this 'guarantee' ? You?
> So somebody who organises a protest should make sure they have a stack of cash ready in case anybody gets
> raped and wants 'redress'? You are a tit.
I'll ignore your last sentence, since I don't think name calling really helps any debate.
Redress can be in many forms. It doesn't have to be cash. One form of redress for a victim / survivor is to know that serious consideration and action has been taken to stop a similar assault happening again. I only have anecdotal evidence of this, but I know that when a very close family member of mine was killed, it was some relief to know that much had been done to prevent other people going through what I went through.
If I was involved in an event or whatever where a serious assault took place, I would definitely do a lot to make sure it didn't happen again. So I could guarantee that the issue was being taken seriously, and steps being taken to stop a similar thing. The original post suggests this is not happening, and that's not OK.
> A rape victim who wears scanty clothing and walks through a deserted park at night is knowingly taking a risk.
> If she gets raped, then that isn't her fault, but she can't blame anybody else either.
The rapist is always to blame. To take your argument to it's logical conclusion, if you walk around at night wearing in a way (e.g. clothes, physical appearance) that I find attractive, that you only "should only blame yourself"
Besides, clothing and time of day contributing to rape is common opinion, but not actually backed up by the overwhelming evidence. Luckily, these days we have the internet, so you can educate yourself about why certain people get raped and why certain people are rapists. Google Scholar is a good place to start.
David
I'm not playing word games
03.11.2011 11:17
You may be playing word games, but I am not.
Ensure means to make certain something happens. I pointed out that ensuring the safety of all participants is impossible. A participant could be harmed by all sorts of things.
The sensible approach is to properly identify risks and then take reasonable and practical precautions to guard against them appropriately. For example a participant could be hit by bits of falling satellite or asteroid. That could well be fatal, but the chances of it happening are so low that the best approach is to do nothing. On the other hand they could be hit by a drunk. Far less likely to be fatal, but far more likely to happen. So it is worth doing something about it, though only so much can be done.
Calling for the impossible just makes the people doing the calling look like politicians.
"There has been insufficient effort to make necessary changes to the physical space or the safer spaces policy following the attack."
That is simply an assertion. If the authors had stated precisely what changes they wanted, they could have been an appendix to the letter to avoid spoiling their flow, then people could evaluate how reasonable and practical they are. I hope the authors have reasonably practical proposals, but judging by the tone of their letter and its impossible demands it may be that they don't. They may simply be politicians.
"It does not reflect the lived experience of people who experience assault. Your failure to show any empathy in this area is quite stunning."
I have been assaulted, so I have some lived experience of my own thank you very much.
A N Other