Women’s Aid and Patron Melanie Brown respond to Brit Awards shortlist nominations

Teresa Parker, head of media, comments:  

The decision to include two men – one of whom has already been convicted of domestic abuse, and one who has been accused of rape and is awaiting trial – on the longlist for the Brit Awards means that the organisers should now think very carefully how this will feel to survivors, including the women who reported these offences.  

 

Should these men win an award, the organisers should consider how women who have survived domestic abuse and rape will feel watching someone already convicted, as well as an alleged rapist, being celebrated in such a public way. 

At Women’s Aid we would urge organisers to consider how they approach this, as for many survivors of abuse, these men’s inclusion on the list will already be a sign that these crimes are not taken seriously – the music industry has to consider the impact on women of who they celebrate, and how they celebrate them. 

 Melanie Brown, Patron of Women’s Aid, said: 

I am deeply disappointed that an organisation so highly respected within the music industry should make a choice like this.

 

 

You have to think what kind of message are you sending out to people when crimes of violence against women can be committed and then that person could be rewarded as part of a massively high profile awards event. It’s shocking to me. 

I am not only Patron of Women’s Aid but I have just completed three new chapters of my book, Brutally Honest, which charts my journey through abuse and the six years it has taken me to deal with the trauma of that abuse. I am still dealing with that trauma and I know I am not alone.”