Redbridge Council Leader throws his support behind City Hall campaign to end violence against women and girls

The Leader of Redbridge Council, Cllr Jas Athwal, who serves as London Councils' Executive Member for Community Safety, has given his unequivocal backing to a new financial package of support that will help free women and girls across London from the threat of violence.

Earlier this week, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, unveiled funding of nearly £18million as part of a refreshed Violence Against Women & Girls (VAWG) Strategy. The revised strategy adopts a public health approach to ending violence against women and girls.

The new funding from City Hall follows £100M of previously allocated funds and will improve the accessibility of rescue and support services for women and girls. Cafes, libraries, dry cleaners, pubs, beauticians, gyms and other everyday venues across London are encouraged to become part of the Mayor’s ‘whole society’ approach to tackling violence against women and girls. 

The holistic approach will see close to £18m of additional investment from City Hall allocated to specialist services to improve support for victims and survivors, tackle the behaviour of perpetrators and better educate the public on the help they can provide.

Cllr Jas Athwal has served as London Councils' lead on crime and community safety since 2019, with a portfolio covering violence against women and girls.

Speaking in response to the Violence Against Women & Girls (VAWG) Strategy, Cllr Athwal said: 

“Ending violence against women and girls cannot be about policing women’s behaviour; instead, we must prevent male violence, address the causes of violence and end the culture of harassment and abuse against women and girls. 

“By taking a public health approach outlined in the Mayor’s new VAWG strategy and working with partners across London, we can and will champion, empower and protect women and girls.”

"In Redbridge, in addition to conventional crime prevention methods, we have successfully organised a series of Women’s Safety Walks and wide-ranging safety survey to understand the experiences of women and girls in our borough. And we will soon launch a campaign to encourage reporting and change the behaviour of perpetrators of abuse and harassment. Our action to end VAWG forms a key part of our efforts to make Redbridge safer.”

Please view the full strategy