Those of you who came to Men’s Challenge will have seen ten talented men flexing their comedy muscles for ten very worthy causes. Ian Marshall, managing director of Funny Women sponsor's Benefit Cosmetics, made domestic violence charity Refuge his chosen charity, and spoke movingly of their work.
Over the last six months Refuge have become very close to our hearts here at Funny Women HQ – as well as benefiting from Ian’s stand up challenge, they are also our Charity of the Year, with funds and awareness currently being raised to support them through the 2013 Funny Women Awards. We’d like to let you know exactly why we believe Refuge’s work is vital, important, and worthy of support from both women and men alike.
As the country’s largest single provider of specialist domestic abuse services, Refuge has had an ongoing commitment to supporting and safeguarding victims of domestic violence since the charity’s creation in 1971. Their services cover any form of gender violence – be it domestic abuse, sexual violence, stalking, trafficking, prostitution, female genital mutilation, forced marriage or honour-based violence – and their work reaches into all areas, including training, raising awareness and even stepping in to provide direct support.
However, despite the ongoing work of Refuge and other charities, domestic abuse is by no means a rare occurrence. Refuge’s current campaign for a public inquiry into the Maria Stubbings case illustrates unfortunate flaws in the system that leave vulnerable women open to abuse. In 2008, Maria was murdered in an horrific attack by her partner Marc Chivers- a man who had previously been jailed for murdering a former girlfriend. Essex Police were aware of this previous conviction, yet despite convicting Chivers for assaulting Maria early in 2008 and receiving reports of subsequent incidents, failed to act to prevent her from losing her life.
All of us at Funny Women, along with Refuge, believe that what happened to Maria should never happen again. Maria’s family, alongside the charity, are launching an e-petition this week calling on the Home Secretary Theresa May to open a public inquiry into the way the police and other state agencies respond to domestic violence victims – a campaign called 'In Maria's Name.' It’s estimated in the UK that two women a week die as a result of domestic violence – an horrific and unacceptable statistic that needs to change.
Sandra Horley CBE, chief executive of Refuge, said:
“The reality is that many state agencies are still failing to take domestic violence seriously. Over forty years since Refuge opened the world’s first safe house, women and children are still being terrorised in their own homes. We are urging the public to sign our petition calling for the Government to open a public inquiry into the response of the police and other state agencies to victims of domestic violence … We need to uncover the truth – to understand why women and children are still not getting the support and protection they deserve.”
Funny Women are proud to support Refuge through this year’s Funny Women Awards. £1 from every entry registration fee and all proceeds from the Funny Women Awards Final in London will go directly to the charity, alongside all fundraising carried out throughout the competition. This petition is yet another important step by the charity in continuing the fight against gender violence, and we hope as an organization, that our partnership with Refuge will enable us to raise awareness of the charity’s ongoing work in giving victims of abuse back their voice.
To read more about Refuge’s campaign, and to sign their petition, click HERE.You can follow updates on the petition on Twitter by using the hashtag #InMariasName.
You can also text ‘JOKE13 £5’ to 70070 to donate £5 to Refuge. The money is taken from your phone bill automatically and neither we, nor Refuge have access to the numbers of anyone who texts so you won’t receive any further communications from us. You can text to donate up to three times per day.
Pictured: Family photograph of Maria Stubbings
