Written evidence from Male Allies Challenging Sexism, Chris Green OBE [EOV0005]

MACS (Male Allies Challenging Sexism) stands against all forms of male violence against women and girls, including sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, coercion, financial abuse, sexual harassment and the sexual exploitation industries (pornography and prostitution).
We stand for the rights of women and girls to safe legal abortion, women-only spaces, fair treatment by the police and justice systems, equal pay and a world without male violence.
We aim to build a men’s pro-feminist movement that can stand alongside the feminist movement to work for an end to the oppression of women and girls and increase men’s awareness and activism around feminist issues. MACS undertakes education and self-education work, policy development and supporting womens initiatives. In particular we develop educational materials, run educational events including book study groups and an annual conference, campaigning for policy changes in the criminal justice system and fundraising for womens organisations.

On behalf of MACS I would like to address Question 1 and Question 3.

1)      To what extent is there evidence that men who exhibit certain non criminal behaviours , including online, go on to commit criminal offences against women and girls.

In my 20 years of experience of working in the field of involving and educating men to challenge all male violence, I have come to believe that there is an undeniable link between men’s use of sex entertainment venues, pornography, use of violent pornography, and violence against women and girls. The levels of entitlement felt by young men is reinforced and underlined by their use of pornography. The majority of scenes from the top 50 accessed pornographic films contain physical and verbal abuse . 90% of scenes contain at least one aggressive act. 70% of the aggression is perpetrated by men.  It is impossible to know whether the involvement of the women involved is consensual, if they are adults, if they are not trafficked, and whether or not they are being threatened.

44% of men aged 11-16 reported that pornography gave them ideas about the type of sex they wanted to try. ( Martellozzo, Middlesex University) Therefore if violent acts are portrayed in pornography, men will go on to commit violence against women and girls.

3)      How effective is a) the police service and b) the criminal justice system at responding to these behaviours and how might those responses be improved.

“The core duty of the police service is to protect the public by detecting and preventing crime.” (House of Commons Library 21 October 2021)

I have worked with police services around the country on prevention, but the amount of resource provided for prevention activities in terms of officer time and finance for materials is negligible, involving attendance at conferences and use of some materials. The police service has been more invested in prosecution and some limited assistance for service provision, while spending on prevention has been neglected. There have been some good examples of service provision in the North East with police patrols being accompanied by service providers, as recommended by Dame Vera Baird when she was a Police and Crime Commissioner., but to my knowledge I don’t believe this has been rolled out in the rest of the country.

The response of the criminal justice service has been equally lacking in an effective response.  I would reinforce the response from McPhee  Hester etc in Policing and Society Dec 2021, “Criminal justice responses to domestic violence and abuse in England: an analysis of case attrition and inequalities using police data” where they describe the high attrition rates for potential prosecutions.

August 2023