First came campaigning and direct action, and then came legal change

Direct action has been the watchword of the violence against women and girls movement, as discussed throughout this book. Activism has been pursued with passion and energy since the beginning. Throughout this long women's history, it has always been important to mount campaigns to support survivors of domestic and sexual violence, and to both set up and then to defend the services they need. It has also been necessary to defend and support the campaigners and service providers themselves in their painful work.

Activists have constantly been attacked, as have refuges and rape crisis centres, when perpetrators find who or where they are. Physical (and now cyber) attacks have been very common from the beginning, as any worker in these services will tell you. Currently, almost all activists on violence against women, and on rape and sexual violence in particular, are exposed to social media attacks and severe trolling which are often extreme and unrelenting. In one of many examples, in 2019, a rape charity was bombarded with ceaseless, distressing, and sometimes violent racist abuse, just because a photo of its flyer offering support to victims from an ethnic minority community was posted on Facebook.

More generally, there have been a large number of campaigns over the years on domestic, sexual and other forms of gender violence. Only a few can be featured here. But the foremost in the last decade or more have been coordinated by EVAW (End Violence against Women), a leading coalition of women's services, researchers, survivors and activists which mounts campaigns to end violence of all types against women and girls. Established in 2005, it has lobbied and conducted campaigning and policy work tirelessly for 15 years.

EVAW has worked at every level of government in the UK countries to improve policy, practice, and awareness of genderbased violence. Directed from January 2021 by Andrea Simon, and previously by Sarah Green, EVAW is chaired jointly by Aisha K. Gill and Huda Jawad. Long-term previous co-chairs were Marai Larasi and Liz Kelly who oversaw the campaign's growth to its leading position. It was, and is, a wide-ranging and indispensable campaigning organisation with strong contributions from BME women.