Zero Tolerance
Working to tackle the causes of men's violence against women
In the early 1990s, a movement called Zero Tolerance transformed the consciousness of Scottish society in Edinburgh. The Women’s Committee of the City of Edinburgh Council, led by Margaret McGregor, was concerned about the health and well-being of women and wanted to identify the issues that mattered to them. A survey found that safety and violence were the issues that mattered most to women in the city.
They therefore launched Zero Tolerance, a campaign to stop men’s violence against women and girls. This included high profile education about how abuse can affect all women, and an attempt to shift the focus of responsibility to men who perpetrated such harm, and to the wider society. An alliance including the police, football clubs, social service agencies and local newspapers was mobilized in Edinburgh. A charitable trust was established in 1994 and the campaign spread to cities and towns across Britain and beyond. Today, Zero Tolerance focuses primarily on prevention to tackle the root causes of violence against women and continues to work alongside other organisations to bring about change. They believe that men’s violence against women is caused by gender inequality and also helps this inequality to continue.
Zero Tolerance is a charity, working to tackle the causes of men’s violence against women. The fact that gender inequality exists, Zero Tolerance points out, feeds on and encourages violence against women, so much so that its mission includes seeking to do away with all forms of gender inequality in society. The organisation does this by working with individuals, communities, women’s organisations, schools, the media and others to address the causes of violence and bring about change. Zero Tolerance points out that violence against women takes many forms: adult entertainment; child sexual abuse; domestic abuse; female genital mutilation; forced marriage; pornography; prostitution; rape and sexual assault and sex trafficking.
Rona Harding
Sources:
Orr, Lesley. Interview 2014
Zero Tolerance Webpage: zerotolerance.org.uk
