This week, the 5th to 11th February, is Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week, the UK’s national week to raise awareness of sexual abuse and violence and to provide an opportunity for any organisation or individual to engage in dialogue.
As feminists, this is something that we feel very aware of. UN statistics tell us that 1 in 3 women worldwide experience physical or sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner – and this number has been static for many years. In the UK, Refuge tell us that 41% of UK girls aged 14 to 17 in an intimate relationship experienced some form of sexual violence from their partner and Rape Crisis England and Wales share the devastating fact that 1 in 2 rapes against women are carried out by their partner or ex-partner.
At Scary Little Girls we believe that the porn industry bears an enormous amount of responsibility here. As a 2023 report by the Children’s Commissioner found, one in every eight titles advertised to first time users in the UK described sexually violent or non-consensual activity. Porn is (generally) not kind, not loving, not – actually – sexy. We are pro great sex and very much anti porn, and have been for many years. Back in 2008, when lad mags were in their hey-day, we took The Riot Showgrrrls Club to Edinburgh
Now in 2024, we’re still putting the “camp” into “campaigning” and the “act” into “activism”, as our heroines Rebecca Mordan and Christina Li use games, comedy, songs and madrigals to the vulva to look at how we are faring in these days of hyper-social media and Pornhub.
Imagine a club where you are greeted with sparkling wine, a suggestive cake and the feminist hand-stamp of your choosing… where after the show you stay on in the club to listen to the women-only DJ set, make your own club membership card with our Radical Craftivist, have some more drinks and get your conversation on – ‘cos in our revolution we’ll find sisterhood and there will be dancing!
‘The mixture of comedy, songs and some hard-hitting facts made for an electric evening, and then the space for chats and tunes after was just what I needed, thank you so much for this transformative event – viva la vulva!’ – Audience Member at The Riot Showgrrrls Club, 2022
This Sexual Abuse & Sexual Violence Awareness Week we urge you to talk – or perhaps just think – about how much better than porn actual sex is. – and what we can do to reclaim our sex lives. And we look forward to seeing you at The Riot Showgrrrls Club later this spring – watch this space for dates!
