London Mayor Sadiq Khan Hails ‘Adolescence' for Having ‘Mainstreamed' Conversation About ‘Epidemic' of Violence Against Women
'Adolescence' has been praised by London Mayor Sadiq Khan for helping bring the subject of violence against women and the dangers of social media into the limelight.
Speaking to Variety on the sidelines of the inaugural SXSW London, where he gave the opening speech, Khan said that there was an 'epidemic of violence against women and girls' in the U.K., citing statistic from 2019 and 2020 that asserted 'every three days a woman is killed at the hands of a man.'
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While he said there was obviously a major part to be played by criminal justice, he noted that it was also hugely important for it to be address in educational terms in schools, highlighting various London initiatives, including one for teachers to use inside classrooms.
'Because I'm afraid boys in particular need to be taught about healthy relationships, about how to respect girls, but also about stoicism about resilience,' he said. 'So when you're seeing, for the first time a TIkTok or a social media film or a YouTube video about the way to treat girls, you realize that's not the way to treat girls, that's not the way to treat women, and you're seeing it from, you know, inverted commas: banter, name calling, verbal abuse, sexual harassment, violence, abuse, rape and murder … that's why it's really important we tackle it at all levels of the spectrum.'
But, for all the concern, Khan noted that he'd been 'pulling my hair out over the lack of people's attention in this area,' which is why he gives 'Adolescence' so much credit.
'Stephen Graham is a genius, but Netflix deserve huge credit,' he said. And listening to Jack (Thorne), who wrote it and Stephen and the publicity they did afterwards was really important. Those conversations, from going to Parliament, having those conversations with MPs to talking about it on sofas and breakfast TV. Hopefully everyone's going to understand this is an issue that's not going to go away and we're going to carry on addressing this issue, from making sure the laws keeping up to pace with some of the stuff girls go through.'
Khan referenced a The Killers concert he attended several years ago where a woman was upskirted.
'At that time, it wasn't a criminal offense, you could take photographs up women's skirts, but the law has been changed now to make upskirting an offense,' he said. 'Her experience of the concert was very different to mine and that's why people like you and I — men — have got to show ally-ship and empathy for women and girls. And that's why 'Adolescence' is so important. It mainstreamed this.
Speaking to Variety, Khan also doubled-down on his opening speech at SXSW London, where he pitched the British capital as a stable international investment opportunity as opposed to the U.S., where there was 'uncertainty and political' and an 'inward-looking mentality'
'I know from speaking to friends in America that they're in choppy political waters, and what I'm saying to them is, that we have something rare in London, which is an environment that is open, that is stable, that is diverse, so it's perfect for the creative industries,' he said, adding that the number of Americans moving to the U.K. had soared since Trump started his second term as president.
'In the first three month of this year, we had record numbers of Americans coming to the U.K., and coming to London in particular, looking at properties, looking at nationality. I know from speaking to those in the film sector, the music sector and the fashion sector, that's there's huge appetite to build on what they've been doing in London, and to come to London,' he said.
'You'll have seen some of the concern from all sorts of sectors within Hollywood about some of the things President Trump is saying, and so what I'm saying is look, London's a place that's the opposite, where there's an antidote to the negativity, so come to London.'
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