How Sadiq Khan Plans To Better Protect Women If He's Re-Elected
If he’s re-elected in the London mayoral election on May 2, 2024, Sadiq Khan says he will put what he calls ‘an epidemic of violence against women and girls’ at the forefront of his term.
‘The real prize this year is not going to be the mayoral election, it’s going to be the general election because I think austerity was a choice,’ he tells ELLE UK. ‘We need the whole system to change but we’re not going to do that until there’s a change of government. In the meantime, there are things I can do, which I will do if I’m re-elected.’
These have been laid out in a new 10-point plan, with measures including free independent legal advice for survivors of rape and serious sexual offences. This will extend the work of independent domestic violence advisers (IDVAs) and independent sexual violence advisers (ISVAs), which Khan says he is particularly proud of. ‘If you’re a survivor of domestic violence or sexual abuse, you now have an advocate in your corner,’ he says. ‘What we noticed though was that there was a gap – so you have an advocate but they’re not legally qualified, which is why we’re now extending it.’
Other elements of the plan include continuing to root out misogyny in London schools, as well as further investment in safe accommodation for domestic abuse survivors. Khan says there’s £10m set aside for the latter, and his campaign team says he has already overseen a record investment of £163.8m to tackle ongoing violence against women and girls. ‘There’s more to be done,’ says the Mayor.
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Khan’s Conservative opponent, Susan Hall, has pledged to appoint a women’s commissioner if she’s elected in May, stating that the Mayor ‘just isn’t listening’ to women about their experiences of violence. ‘I understand the embarrassment, if you’re a Conservative, from the last 14 years,’ he says. ‘But I’m somebody who doesn’t want to use the experience of women as a political football. What I want to do is support them.’
Labour and various news outlets have also reported that Hall ‘doesn’t think of herself as a feminist’ – a position that appears in contrast to Khan, who is vocal on the subject. ‘If you think it’s wrong that women have less of a chance to fulfil their potential than men, if you think it’s bad that women are more likely to be the victim of violence than men, if you think women shouldn’t be imposing curfews on themselves for fear of violence, you’re a feminist – and I’m a feminist,’ he says.
As for women MPs, Khan says he's witnessed the toxic 'treatment received' online by those including 'one of [his] best friends', the Labour MP Dawn Butler. 'I think it’s deliberately done to try to intimidate and scare women, and to put other women off coming forward,' he says. 'If you’re a woman MP it puts your head above the parapet, but what I think they'd tell you is if you’re thinking about a career in politics, don’t be put off – then the bullies win. What they hate is women in positions of power and influence.'
What can we do to address this, as well as bullying within Westminster itself? 'Starting education early is really important,' says Khan. 'Those girls and boys at school will become the next chief executives, the next editors, the next MPs, so if you start early they’ll behave properly.' Fighting talk from the Mayor with his sights on a historic third term in City Hall.
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