‘Woman killed’ - but by who? Dismantling the media spin on male violence

Should I Delete That?

Alex Light & Em Clarkson

Society & Culture, Unknown

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Words matter and the way we use them can either uphold or challenge harmful systems.

This week we’re joined by Sydney - the co-founder of This Ends Now, a not-for-profit dedicated to preventing male violence against women and girls through reframing conversations. Sydney tells us how language plays a powerful role in shaping our understanding of sexism and male violence and how changing the words we use can help dismantle the patriarchy.

We dive into their powerful ‘Red Pen’ campaign, which calls out the victim-blaming, misogynistic language too often used in headlines and police reports and corrects them to advocate for responsible reporting.

Our chat with Sydney was fascinating, and really opened up our eyes to how simple changes to the language we use can make a huge difference - and felt particularly important off the back of our conversation with Laura Bates last week. Do go back and listen to that episode if you haven’t already.

Follow @thisendsnow__ on Instagram

Read more about all the work of This Ends Now at https://www.thisendsnow.co.uk/

Read the Words Matter Reporting Guidelines here

If you'd like to get in touch, you can email us on [email protected]

@shouldideletethat

@em_clarkson

@alexlight_ldn

Should I Delete That is produced by Faye Lawrence

Studio Manager: Dex Roy

Video Editor: Celia Gomez

Social Media Manager: Emma-Kirsty Fraser

Music: Alex Andrew

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is sponsored by Sweaty Betty.
0:02.5	Guys, I am more than a little bit excited because it's my favourite time of year and my favoured
0:06.3	brand are running my favourite campaign.
0:09.2	Alex Light, do you know what time it is?
0:11.5	Tell me what time it is.
0:13.3	It is time to wear the damn shorts.
0:15.7	Yes, it is.
0:16.6	And whilst you guys know that I'm not a summer lover, this is absolutely an ethos that I can get behind.
0:22.3	Only 16% of UK women feel confident wearing shorts whilst working out.
0:27.0	Like so many of us, I've spent so many summers sweating under layers and just feeling really self-conscious.
0:32.2	So I love this message because life really is too short.
0:35.4	Honestly, tell me about it.
0:36.6	The minute may arrives, I put on my sweaty-Berty power shorts, and that is me until October.
0:41.7	Like you, I spent so long feeling so self-conscious.
0:44.3	And honestly, now, I just think, screw it.
0:46.7	These are my lovely, lovely legs, and they carry me through life, and they deserve to be seen and celebrated.
0:51.5	And that's just it, isn't it? Because we're so tough on our bodies
0:54.1	when really we should be wearing what we want and doing what we want. Exactly, which is why
0:59.1	we'll be wearing the damn shorts this summer. Head to sweatybetti.com to find out more.
1:06.9	You see so many headlines where it's woman was killed, woman sexually assaulted on canal path,
1:12.6	woman sexually touched at bus stop, you know, who is doing that?
1:16.6	We're not talking about the perpetrator.
	...

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