‘Are we speaking out as yet about the two women a week being killed by abusive partners?’ Photo: Courtesy of Journeymen Theatre.
‘There is no audience quite like a prison audience.’
Journeymen Theatre co-founder Lynn Morris reflects on performing a play on domestic abuse to men in HMP Ashfield
October was Domestic Violence Awareness Month and those who noticed were encouraged to wear purple to show their support. I have to ask, who actually did know? At Journeymen Theatre, as we engage with audiences all over the UK, performing our play on domestic abuse Rock And A Hard Place, I would say the awareness of the significance of October in recognising this human rights abuse is actually low to nonexistent among the general public. It certainly came as a shock to our audience recently in HMP Ashfield. Those men watch TV quite avidly but they were able to testify that there had been not one public information advertisement, nor anything in print-based media to raise awareness of Purple October.
The performance for the men in Ashfield had been organised by the Faith Forum in the prison, and we were taken aback when they requested Rock And A Hard Place, following a previous successful visit of ours with another play called And the Beat Goes On… I really have to commend the Faith Forum, particularly the Quaker members, for the courage and willingness they displayed in having this highly sensitive issue raised. We feel they took a risk which they then followed through with persuasive marketing throughout the prison. The result was that nearly sixty men, from a wide range of cultural, ethnic and faith backgrounds, sat expectantly in the multi-faith room. There is no audience quite like a prison audience. They listen intently, as is demonstrated when, frequently, in post-performance discussions, men can quote back lines they have heard just the once. They also come prepared to have an enjoyable experience, regardless of the theme, and so they chuckle and clap at moments that resonate, and sometimes they cry, as did a few during what some found to be a particularly moving moment in the play.
Post-performance discussions in prisons are thought-provoking for everyone in the room, and the Rock And A Hard Place discussion was animated and challenging. The room buzzed with men openly discussing their experiences of witnessing domestic abuse between their parents and grandparents; of female towards male violence, and the perceived attitudes of the police towards this. Some also posed big questions about what needs to change to bring about a transformation. What do we need to teach our children about relationships and human values?
When we perform this play on the ‘outside’, the audience profile tends to be overwhelmingly female, so our Ashfield experience is one to be treasured. The Faith Forum organiser, Richard, who has become a Quaker in prison, presented us with two beautiful personalised Journeymen Theatre mugs that he had helped produce. For us this was a powerful symbol of these men needing to know that they are still valued as human beings.
We Quakers set great store by our Peace Testimony. It feeds so much of our ministry. The big questions posed by the men at Ashfield, and our willingness to take a good hard look at ourselves and those close to us, are vital to help mitigate the impact of domestic abuse on families, relationships, communities and our social norms. Our Peace Testimony asks us to do just this and re-reading it affirms for me how apposite much of it is to the complexities of domestic abuse, including the new crime of coercion: ‘We must start with our own hearts and minds. Wars will stop only when each of us is convinced that war is never the way. The places to begin acquiring the skills and maturity and generosity to avoid or to resolve conflicts are in our own homes, our personal relationships, our schools, our workplaces, and wherever decisions are made. We must relinquish the desire to own other people, to have power over them, and to force our views on to them.’
Are we speaking out as yet about the two women a week being killed by a current or former abusive partners? Are we challenging the fact that at least £23 billion is estimated to be spent every year on trying to repair the human damage wrought by this denial of human rights? Meanwhile, those refuges that still survive only do so as charities, with all the financial instabilities and dogged fundraising that involves. Again, the Peace Testimony states: ‘In speaking out, we acknowledge that we ourselves are as limited and erring as anyone else. When put to the test, we may each fall short.’ This returns me to my opening observations.
There is no Purple October for the majority of people in the UK. For whatever reason, it has not caught the public zeitgeist, and so the silence continues. Our Sanctuary Movement is now up and functioning across many of our Local Meetings. This issue is sanctuary ministry and is a concern that we can all potentially act upon.
Those who missed October’s campaign – which is more closely observed in the USA, where it is National Domestic Awareness Month – may wish to pick up November’s Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. This is an international campaign, coordinated by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership, to challenge violence against women and girls. It runs every year from 25 November (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) to 10 December (Human Rights Day). See https://16dayscampaign.org for details and resources.
