The Room Where it Happens...
Stopping image-based abuse legislatively with Glamour Magazine and End Violence Against Women
Parliamentary roundtable: What’s next in the fight against image-based abuse?
For the second year in a row, I was invited to this event by Glamour Magazine who was hosting alongside End Violence Against Women Coalition headed by Andrea Simon and as the guests of the Rt Hon Kirith Entwistle. Once again, I was blown away by the determination, expertise and all around powerhouse community of women (and two men) that had gathered to address this massive issue. Last year I left feeling honoured to have met such incredible voices in the fight for women’s safety, but pretty angry that it didn’t seem like much would be done despite the best intentions of those in the room.
This year the tone and the force felt different, more defiant, and I wanted to examine why. The format and breakdown of these huge topics with survivor impact statements at the center of the discussion made each focus area seem more surmountable and accessible. Hearing firsthand from Georgia Harrison about her experiences and the investigative work that Jess Davies continues to do reminded me why I continue to fight.
Lucy Morgan, the purpose editor at Glamour, expertly coordinated a group of speakers that blew me away and the night was broken into five topics:
Criminal Law
Civil Law
Prevention through comprehensive relationships, sex and health education
Fund specialist services
Create an Online Abuse Commission to hold tech companies accountable for image-based abuse
It was perhaps the most illuminating two hours that I’ve spent in 2025 and I am tempted to enroll in law school just to learn from Professor Clare McGlynn from Durham University who has been leading the charge for the past ten years. And urge all of you to check out Image Angel, CHAYN, Everyone’s Invited and Beyond Equality.
The day prior to the parliamentary roundtable was the 4th anniversary of the abduction rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving police officer Wayne Couzens which led to my speaking with Eddie Nestor on BBC Radio London for a good thirty minutes. Eddie was trying to delve into how the murder changed London, if women were safer, if policing was at all improved, porn, Andrew Tate, Ask Angela, and the vigil that the police illegally prevented us from hosting. Each of the topics also have race and class implications and given that it has been my life for the past four years, I’ve got lots to say on all of it but most of it boils down to male violence against women isn’t an issue women can fix, men need to stop killing us. But had I had the conversation with Eddie after last night, I would have been more systematic in the routes we have to address the culture of misogyny and the violence against women in all forms. The piece meal approach, as righteous and knowledgeable as I am on each factor doesn’t give the same overall impression or impact that last night had on me to drive change forward.
Tonight I will be speaking at Rosa’s The Power of Collective Action, Rosa is the grant making charity who created the Stand With Us fund from monies donated to Reclaim These Streets. Please donate here: https://rosauk.org/our-programmes/stand-with-us/
The impact of last night and the work of Andrea Simon, MP Kirith Entwistle and Kemi Alemoru, Glamour’s new head of Editorial Content, will be front of mind as the best example of collective action I have witnessed in a long time.
Together and collectively we are a force to be reckoned with, and last night, I was honoured to share the space with the women driving that fight and making the world safer for women.
