Invasion of privacy, huge emotional impact: Online abuse support scheme for women launched
Operation Awake will support women in public life
A Salisbury City Councillor has spoken of the huge emotional impact abusive messages can have.
A pilot scheme, called Operation Awake, has been launched to support women in public life who receive abusive messages based on their gender.
The scheme encourages women in public work to report incidents of written, verbal or online messaging, to police and quote “Operation Awake” to police when calling 101.
This will allow police to build patterns of behaviour, identify serial offender, inform patrol strategies, and, where necessary, investigate deeper.
'I had to put in a doorbell camera to feel safe'
Victoria Charleston is group leader for the Liberal Democrats at Salisbury City Council and has been sharing her experiences with us.
“I had an experience earlier in the year when I was putting my children to bed. So I have my two children with me with reading stories, having a good time. My phone goes and it's a text message which made me feel very uncomfortable.”
Victoria told us that such messages are an “invasion of privacy”, adding: “It's not physically threatening to me, but emotionally, it had a huge impact.”
Earlier this year, Victoria had installed a doorbell camera to help her feel safer at home.
Changes needed across society
A societal change is needed in the way we talk to each other, according to Victoria.
She referenced the old phrase “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words wont hurt me,” as no longer being true.
“The messages we receive online, the words that people use against other people, have a real impact on them, and we must recognise that across the whole society,” she said.
And while Operation Awake is focussed on females in public life, Victoria agreed that it is linked to a wider conversation of harassment, particularly on social media.
“Currently have the online harms bill going through Parliament and there is a lot of work, particularly in the violence against women and girls sector, to push for misogyny and sexual harassment to be recognised in that.”