These are the reasons and examples why women cannot trust men in modern times, from the AI of Taylor Swift to police misconduct.
Trump created an AI of Taylor Swift, claiming he has her support in the upcoming US elections in November, to domestic abuse and acid attacks. The police who vow to protect the people of our country instead break that sole agreement. These are case studies and examples of why we women do not feel safe in this current climate.
The statistics do not lie. In March 2023, female victims in England and Wale aged 16+ report said, “We estimate that at least one in every 12 women will be a victim of VAWG every year (2 million victims)and one in 20 adults in England and Wales will be a perpetrator of VAWG every year” (2.3 million perpetrators)
Over three years, on average, at least one woman a week was killed by a male partner/ex-partner; women are killed by a man every three days in the UK. Domestic abuse makes up 18% of all recorded crimes in England and Wales; those are reported to the police; there are likely to be more that have happened, having gone unreported out of fear of reputation, not acknowledging abuse happened or were not listened to or believed. In the year ending March 2022, there were 194,683 sexual offences, of which 70,330 were rape.
With those statistics, it is no surprise women and girls' stories get lost in the numbers; behind all statistics, there is a woman or girl who has suffered enormously.
Within that ststautusic comes violence against women by previous partners. The case of Rebecca Cheptegei, a Ugandan marathon runner who just competed at Paris 2024, finishing 44th four weeks prior. She died at the age of just 33 in Kenya after her former boyfriend set her on fire. At the Paralympics t54 and t12, a short spoke eulogy was aired, and she was referred to as a “victim of femicide”. The T54 gold medalist, Marcel Hug, said this with a strong: “Message out against violence”.
It has been released by authorities in north-west Kenya that this was a targeted attack after returning home from church with her two daughters. It has been believed that there were reports filed by a local administrator that the athlete and her attack-ex-partner were in dispute over a piece of land with an investigation underway.
These statistics do not stop in the UK. In Kenya, there has been a significant concern about attacks on women. In 2022, at least 34% of women said they had experienced physical violence, according to a national survey. Kenya's Sports Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said: "This tragedy is a stark reminder of the urgent need to combat gender-based violence, which has increasingly affected even elite sports.”
The UN population fund, UN Women and secretary-general Stephane Dujarric said: “We stand together strongly condemning Cheptegei’s violent murder.”
Dr Kimani Mbugua, the consultant in Eldoret and a doctor at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, consultant local media that the staff did all they could. She said: “The athlete had a severe percentage of burns, which unfortunately led to multi-organ failure, which ultimately led to her passing.”
She left behind two daughters without a strong mother and female role model.
Most people know Katie Piper, the model and TV presenter who has been on strictly and loose women; she has used her platform to advocate for victims of acid attacks. Piper was attacked by a man named Stefan Sylvestre, who was working on the instructions of Daniel Lynch, who was barely involved with Piper. Do you see the pattern of men getting angry and wanting to hurt women who have left them as their ego has been hurt? Sylvestre threw acid at Piper's face, resulting in severe life-changing burns; this became a high-profile acid attack and set a significant precedent in the media. The assault was life-changing, with Piper suffering extensive damage to her face and neck and losing sight in one eye. She did not let her down; she became an advocate, setting up her charity, a family and a career as a presenter. She established the Katie Piper Foundation in 2009 as a significant part of Piper’s activism against acid violence. This group works relentlessly to ensure that their visible and invisible scars do not limit the life potential of survivors. They picture a world where scars do not inhibit a person’s function, social inclusion, or overall well-being.
But the trauma did not just stop as the physical; the psychological damage was more profound, mainly if someone like Piper's career was based on her physical appearance. Acid attacks leave survivors grappling with a raft of mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She is a perfect example of how it makes you stronger if it doesn't kill you.
Acid attack statistics in 2022 were a 69% increase compared to the previous year, with 710 attacks in total recorded in 2022, 339 attacks targeted women, and 317 attacks targeted women.
Deepfaking has been thrown into the spotlight from the situation of Taylor Swift, but 99.9% of victims of deepfakes and online sexual abuse can't fight back or wait for the damage to die down. It impacts people's reputations and self-esteem while also shattering their privacy. A Bumble survey found that one in three women have been sent unsolicited lewd images. A 2021 study by the Pew Research Center found that 33% of women under 35 report being sexually harassed online.
With all this, it's no surprise that the billionaire Taylor Swift has become a victim on multiple occasions already this year.
On X social media platform, formerly Twitter, was the platform in which deepfake pornographic images of Taylor Swift. The platform took a while to take down the image, racking up 47 million views, with Swifties reporting the mass-reported image. Even the White House called it “alarming”. They did block searches for the name of the pop stairs on the platform.
Laura Bates's notable about the Swift abuse was “just how far they were allowed to circulate on mainstream social media platforms as well. Even when they then take action and claim to be shutting it down, those images have spread across thousands of forums and websites by that point.”
Months after, Swift was a victim again to AI, but karma came for Trump. The Republican presidential candidate posted the message “I accept” alongside the image taken for other social media accounts of Swift supporting Trump for president, with fans accusing Trump of spreading misinformation, primarily after it became known that she is a Democrat and has criticised him in the 2020 election. One photo shared by Trump depicted Swift's fans wearing t-shirts that read: “Swifties for Trump”. She has criticised Trump in the past, surrounding nationwide protests over the police murder of George Floyd. She posted on X, formerly Twitter: "After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence?”
She spoke out about the friendly on Instagram, saying: “Recently I was made aware that Al of 'me' falsely endorsing Donald. Trump's presidential run was posted to his site. It conjured up my fears about Al and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It made me conclude that I need to be very transparent about my plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth. I will vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in 2024.” How would you vote for a man who spreads fake news and fake endorsements after complaining that the 2020 election was rigid with fake votes for the Democrats?
In this previous piece, I speak at length about Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls. She advocates to close the pay gap and the rights of women for abortion. While also backing the recent law in England and Wales to create a safe access zone of 150 metres around abortion clinics to make it illegal for anyone to harass or obstruct women from accessing such services.
Jess Phillips said: “We will not sit back and tolerate harassment, abuse and intimidation as people exercise their legal right to healthcare.”
She is not just an advocate for women but all minority underrepresented groups and stood up for her views of presentation in politics in January 206. The Labour shadow cabinet did not reflect the country's people.
After the murder of Sarah Everard captured the country's attention, Phillips made it clear this was not a stand-alone case and read out the names of all women killed in the previous year, where a man was subsequently convicted. She fights for those who no longer have a voice or have their voice taken by male aggression.
Lord Justice Fulford remarked Everard's murder in his sentencing remarks had “significant panning and premeditation” by her murderer Couszens. A police officer who had an extended plan to carry out a violent sexual assault on a yet-to-be-selected victim. He spent a month travelling from Kent to London to research how best to carry out his attack, and days before the brutal murder, he hired a car which he would use in the addiction and carpet protector. The Met Police, the institution that should be protecting women from predators, could not even see one in their institution. This is not the first and will not be the last time a woman will die at the hands of a person in power who is supposed to help them. This proves the point of why women do not trust men. The exact institution that is supposed to help us women is the institution that has men who murder women. As a response to her murder, the police watchdogs announced it was probing alleged failures by the Met to investigate two exposure incidents of Couzens. The Independent Office for Police Conduct investigated the failures of Kent Police in investigating a flashing incident in 2015. Instead of being fired for breaking the law and sexual crimes, he was transferred to the Met in 2018.
It was announced that Baroness Casey of Blackstock was appointed to review Met culture and standards to rebuild public trust. What so gets women to clear up a man's mistakes? They published a new action plan for tackling violence against women and girls - prioritising action against sexual and violent predatory offenders specialist Predatory Offender Units 650 new officers into busy public places, including those where women and girls often lack confidence that they are safe. More reassurance patrols and an increased police presence in key “hotspot” locations for offences of violence and harassment. An urgent review of all current investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct and domestic abuse against our officers and staff to make sure that those who made the allegations are being adequately supported and the investigations are comprehensive. An urgent dip sample of cases from the last ten years where sexual misconduct and domestic abuse allegations have been made and those accused remain in the Met to ensure that appropriate management measures, including vetting reviews, have been taken
That is all well and good, but women do not feel safe going up to police officers as they are terrified that they could be subsequent. More police presence is not going to change the view of women that has been put in them since they were young to be scared of men and be aware of meeting male police officers, especially after the sexual misconduct that came out as a response to Sarah's murder.
Again, it has been seen that men abuse their power position, and no one does anything about it. The case of Mohammad Al Fayad is a testimony with 20 women coming forward to the BBC with allegations ranging from sexual assault to rape. Harrods accepts vicarious liability for Fayed's actions, and no non-disclosure agreements are attached to the settlements. As he is dead, this will be a civil case which is currently going on, so I cannot comment much on it.
Harrod's current owners said: "These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated, and we condemn them in the strongest terms."
He was the owner of the Ritz Paris Hotel and Fulham FC in his lifetime, with other possible sexual crimes that could have occurred there. The span of these crimes covers nearly 40 years.
The new labour government has spoken of their party policy around these crimes, with criminals found guilty of such crimes with sentences not always reflecting the crime committed, especially offences against women and girls. Labour said they would review the sentencing to ensure it is current. While also introducing new specialist domestic abuse workers in 999 control rooms and putting specialist rape investigation units in every force across England and Wales to ensure prevention and protection are not missed. Labour will require the police forces to target dangerous repeat offenders. Shouldn't the police be checked, given they have had high-profile cases of police officers committing crimes against women?
One will hope something can be gained from this; however, only time will tell if anything will be done.
Women and girls should not be afraid of men in power positions or police officers; we should not be afraid of the people who are supposed to help and keep us safe.
Will anything change?
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