Introduction

In 2009, during an assessment of the progress made in eliminating violence against women over the past three decades and achieving social and financial equality with men, I argued that ‘the clock had stopped’ (Ballinger, 2009: 21). This argument was based on the findings of feminist activist groups and organizations, as well as statistics published in various official and nongovernmental organization reports. For example, in 2007, the Fawcett Society estimated that ‘at the present rate of change, it will take 140 years before women achieve equal pay’ (Guardian, 14 June 2007, in Ballinger, 2009: 21). That year also saw the publication of the Equalities Review Report which pointed to the existence of ‘an array of “entrenched” inequalities’ so extensive that ‘in some areas “we have stopped the clock” ‘; in others, ‘it is starting to turn backwards’ (in Ballinger, 2009: 21).

In terms of violence against women during the first decade of the 21st century, it was estimated that 50,000 rapes occurred annually in Britain, while the conviction rate for reported cases stood at 5.3 per cent (New Statesman, in Ballinger, 2009: 21). On average, two women were killed a week ‘by a current or former partner’, while ‘domestic violence was the biggest cause of death and disability for all women under the age of 44’ (Council of Europe, 2006, in Ballinger, 2009: 21).

To place these statistics within a wider context, while the figure for domestic violence-related female deaths had remained unaltered for several decades, cases of reported rape had increased by 165 per cent during the 1990s (Itzin, 2000: 37). Thus, during an era where women had appeared to gain unprecedented levels of personal and economic freedom and formal equality – reinforced by the Gender Equality Duty legislation in 2007 – violence against women either remained static, or continued to increase.

As stated, a key theme in my publication ‘Same as it ever was?’ – where the statistics were brought together and published at the end of the first decade of the 21st century – was to assess what progress had been made since the 1970s, in creating substantive, as well as formal equality between women and men, and thus, ensuring social justice for all.