Nothing to LOL about here!

All those acronyms

We are up to our necks in acronyms. From the RSPCA to the DWD, to CID and HMRC, they are impossible to ignore. They have entered our lives, with numbers increasing daily (along with the new varieties of emoji - which are not actually acronyms, so we’ll save that issue for another day).
The first acronyms of note were SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) and POTUS (President of the United States), created in late 19th Century America, as ways of saving words in the telegraph system. The explosion of acronyms during the last hundred and fifty years or so has tended to develop through technology, medical science, warfare, and legal systems, as well as traditional use by societies and charitable organisations.
Many acronyms do not trip off the tongue lightly – The NUWSS (National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies) founded in 1897 – is a bit of a mouthful, and today, the UN Refugee Agency, (UNHCR) is not the easiest to recall. But other acronyms become familiar words, often so familiar that we forget what the letters originally signified. LASER, RADAR, PIN, TASER, SPAM and AIDS, for example. And more recently, of course, COVID19. You will probably not be surprised to know that there is a website called Acronym Finder which holds 5 million entries, most of them forgotten.

So, where are we going with all this?

If you can bear with the linguistics for a bit longer, we WILL get to the dark and angry heart of this blog. But first, a reminder about ‘onomatopoeia’. You may remember this word from school literature lessons when, along with similes and metaphors, we searched for examples where words evoke sounds and sensations - words like splash, twang, murmur, and whisper. In ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’, for example, we can hear the children running along the street: ‘Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering / Little hands clapping and little tongues chattering’.
The Pied Piper, who was a nasty piece of work if ever there was one, now leads us on to consider the Criminal Justice system, where there are hundreds of acronyms, some of which form words that sound almost lighthearted, like TWOC (Taking Without Consent) or helpful and benevolent, like PET (Prisoner Education Trust). But there are some acronyms that can really make you understand the nastiness of crimes. FGM doesn’t shy away from what it is (Female Genital Mutilation), and neither does SARC (Sexual Assault Referral Centre).
Which brings us to the horrible, but essential and accurate acronym that is VAWG (Violence Against Women and Girls), and the government’s recently published VAWG Strategy. If you have not met these four letters before, they form a sort of word, one that sounds sinister and repellent even on a first hearing. Spoken aloud it can sound like a howl of pain or the name of a creature from ancient folklore; a monster invented by the Brothers Grimm. That may all seem a bit fanciful, but the word creates a sense of unease. As it should. Women and girls have been subject to violence, and predominantly male violence, for ever. Executed, burnt at the stake, tortured, starved, raped, stoned ……… there’s not a moment in history when it has not happened. These four letters have centuries of abuse coiled up tightly inside them.

The VAWG Strategy

The cross-government VAWG Strategy is a huge piece of work that sets out action plans in detail. The aim is to halve the violence against women and girls within a decade, via four critical areas – Prevention, The Relentless Pursuit of Perpetrators, Support, and A Whole Society Approach. If you look at some of the action plans, such as the ones dealing with online abuse, or education, for example, you will begin to see the scale of commitment needed for implementation.

A Whole Society Approach

Much of the strategy focuses on planned changes to the law, the roles of different institutions and all the training implications. But one of the most challenging areas is how to bring about wholesale change. The abhorrence that is VAWG must be seriously understood and accepted - everyone should have a duty of care and a responsibility to report.
Violence against women, fuelled by misogyny, permeates every level of our society. Rich and powerful perpetrators are protected, online abuse is rife, women make up the majority of victims in domestic homicide - the appalling list goes on and on. The VAWG strategy offers hope and action – but those plans have to be implemented, and each of us, men and women, should recognise our own responsibility and push hard for the changes to happen. Organisations and pressure groups like White Ribbon, EVAW and the National Fawcett Society are on the case, but they need our support.

No more waiting. Better lives for women and girls mean better lives for all.

It took decades before women were able to vote. It has taken years for abortion to be decriminalised. Action against online abuse takes forever – see for example the recent resignation letter from Jess Phillips, a senior woman politician totally frustrated at glacial progress which has left children ‘without a safety net.’
The VAWG Strategy must stay high profile, actions must be seen to be taken, and there must be accountability.
VAWG is an acronym that should never have been needed. And it is one that must never be forgotten.

MAY UPDATE ON THE MK FAWCETT CAMPAIGN FOR A SAFER, HEALTHIER, FAIRER MILTON KEYNES

  • The latest Evidence Paper, a compilation of data relating to Milton Keynes and our Safer, Healthier and Fairer manifesto, is now published and can be found HERE It was discussed with Milton Keynes MPs Callum Anderson, Chris Curtis and Emily Darlington in our recent individual meetings with them. 
  • We took our Use Your Vote leaflets and Manifesto boards to a number of outreach sessions in the lead up to the local elections. We are grateful to all the parish councils, faith groups etc who have invited us to visit their community cafes in the areas where engagement in MK elections can be lowest. We have begun our usual monitoring of the Council elections and look forward to meeting with new councillors over the summer. The initial 2026 paper can be found HERE 
  • We have monitored the representation of women on Milton Keynes City Council (MKCC) since 2014, the last time ward boundaries were changed. The percentage of women on Council has fluctuated, from 35% in 2014 to 44% women in 2022, a figure which remained stable until 2024, the date of the last elections. Our initial monitoring of the 2026 election gives a breakdown of gender representation in the parties by candidates and by elected councillors. Although there are some notable gains in the outcome, including a 50-50 balance of councillors on the governing Liberal Democrat party, an all-female leadership of the three main parties, and for the first time a female Leader of the Council, our monitoring shows that the overall percentage of women elected has fallen from 44% to 42%. We are sending our initial monitoring paper to all the local Party Leaders for confirmation of the data, inviting them to comment and join us in a discussion. 
  • Freedom from Violence and Abuse: A cross-government Strategy to build a safer society for women and girls. On May 13th we ran a half-day workshop in central MK, with our friends from The VAWG Alliance Bucks  and Community Action: MK, focussing on what is IN the strategy and what it MEANS for individuals and organisations / groups. See:https://www.fawcettmk.org.uk/ .We continue to be represented on the committee planning White Ribbon campaigns across the city, 
  • We contributed to the online workshops that are shaping the September conference of the Centre for Protecting Women Online. There will be a face-to-face meeting in June where we will work with other CPWO partners on refining the agenda and focus. 
  • As the new enlarged Integrated Care Board (ICB) takes shape, we will continue to monitor how women’s health needs are considered. We are watching how ideas such as Women’s Health Clinics are piloted and evaluated and we are closely following the development of the city’s Women and Children’s hospital: 
  • We will continue to follow the progress and implementation of the recently approved MKCC Domestic Abuse strategy 
  • Did you see IT? The recent exhibition at the OU campus of the craftivism project which was part of MK’s contribution to mark the Day of the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls on 25th November. Selected exhibits are on show at Westbury Arts Centre, in Studio 15, from 11am till 4pm on 6-7 and 13-14 June. Watch out for more venues – and suggest some! 
  • The Fawcett Society Conference will be on June 13th this year. Do consider attending - more information here: https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/misogyny-matters-fawcett-conference-2026 
  • We will continue to promote the manifesto campaign and encourage people to become more involved with the political process. 
  • MKF now has a LinkedIn presence as well as being on BlueSky. Please follow us on these platforms as well as at https://www.fawcettmk.org.uk/
Location: Milton Keynes, UK

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