Gavin Newlands MP, speaking at Violence Summit, calls on all men to challenge abusive behaviour
Gavin Newlands, SNP MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, has called on men to ‘stop looking the other way’ and challenge sexist and abusive behaviour whenever they see it happening.
The Member of Parliament for Paisley and Renfrewshire North was a guest speaker and panellist at the Westminster Foundation for Democracy’s International Summit on Violence Against Women in Politics.
During his speech, Gavin spoke of the Me Too movement and how it highlighted that too many men in positions of power have ignored cases of sexist and abusive behaviour.
Mr Newlands serves as the Chair of a cross-party group for The White Ribbon Campaign which promotes the positive role that men can play in ending violence against women and girls.
Gavin Newlands, SNP MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, said:
“I was delighted to have been invited to speak at this international summit sharing experiences of, and best practice at ending, the violence that women and girls still face in their everyday lives.
“Violence against women and girls affects every country across the globe with the United Nations suggesting that up to 70 percent of women will have experienced some form of physical and sexual violence in their lifetime.
‘I mentioned in my speech that in the UK, shamefully, two women a week are killed by a current or ex-partner, one of my fellow panellists from Argentina said that a woman is killed every 29 hours there, a horrendous level of femicide.
“The Me Too movement has shown that too many men have abused their position of power for far too long, remaining silent whilst sexist and abusive behaviour has taken place. It’s time for more men, and other key influences in wider civil society, to step forward and play our part in ending gender-based violence."
