Redbridge Council signs charter to better protect women from violence

Redbridge Council is calling for local night-time businesses to join it in signing the Mayor’s Women’s Night Safety Charter to tackle violence against women and girls across the borough following the tragic murder of Sarah Everard.

The cross-party motion supporting the charter, which was signed by the Council administration this week, will go to Full Council next week. The Charter forms part of the council’s ongoing work with police and residents to address the crime issues that matter most to local people, including violence against women and girls.

As part of this work, the Leader of Redbridge Council, Cllr Jas Athwal announced over the weekend that the council would be launching a borough-wide listening exercise. The exercise will take the form of a survey and a series of online events where women and girls who live and work in Redbridge will be invited to share their experiences and vocalise what action they believe is needed to help them feel safe on our streets.

 Cllr Jas Athwal, Leader of Redbridge Council said,

“The tragic murder of Sarah Everard followed by a national outpouring of grief, public anger and demonstrations are a loud and clear call for urgent action. It is clear far too many women still feel vulnerable and unsafe when going out in London, which is completely unacceptable.

“I am committed to directing a Redbridge-wide concerted effort to protect women and girls from harm. By signing up to the Mayors Women's Night Safety Charter, we are sending a powerful signal to local women that their safety is our top priority and to abusers and violent offenders that their behaviour will not be tolerated. The council has been working hard to reduce crime, and today I can promise we will redouble our actions to tackle crime and reduce the fear of crime.

“We are establishing a Redbridge Crime Commission, to investigate and address the root causes of crime and will shortly be launching an intensive listening exercise, inviting women and girls from across our borough to share their thoughts and experiences with the council and the police.”

The motion that will be presented at Redbridge’s full council next Thursday (25 March) will say:

• Redbridge has a night-time economy, which is enjoyed by many local people and visitors every day, and many local people travel and work at night in the borough and elsewhere in London.
• Whilst there is less reported violent crime at night in London than during the day, approximately 23 per cent of women in London say they feel unsafe in London at night and women and girls are more likely to experience sexual violence, assault and abuse than the rest of society at night.
• 20 per cent of women have experienced some type of sexual assault since the age of 16, and 79 per cent of women aged 18-24 said they expected inappropriate comments, touching and behaviour on a night out towards them or their friends.

Cllr Athwal added:

“We are serious about Redbridge being a safe home for everyone. All women have a right to be and feel safe at all times whether they are at work, socialising or travelling on public transport. I am proud that as a council we are standing together on this, with our communities and working in partnership across the borough and our city.”

The Women’s Night Safety Charter has been created to make London a city where all women feel confident and welcome at night. The charter sets out guidance for venues, operators, charities, councils and businesses to improve safety at night for women. This includes better training of staff, encouraging the reporting of harassment, and ensuring public spaces are safe.

To support the Women's Night Safety Charter, all organisations are asked to sign-up to the following pledges:

• Nominate a champion in your organisation who actively promotes women’s night safety
• Demonstrate to staff and customers that your organisation takes women’s safety at night seriously, for example through a communications campaign
• Remind customers and staff that London is safe, but tell them what to do if they experience harassment when working, going out or travelling
• Encourage reporting by victims and bystanders as part of your communications campaign
• Train staff to ensure that all women who report are believed
• Train staff to ensure that all reports are recorded and responded to
• Design your public spaces and work places to make them safer for women at night

Cllr Athwal added:

“Since we started our public engagement last year to inform the Redbridge Crime Commission, we have already taken steps to tackle crime and the fear of crime, but there is more that needs to be done. Our commitment to residents is that we will continue to listen and to act, and will not tolerate violence on our streets.”

Work to address crime and improve safety in Redbridge carried out by the council in the past year includes:

• Developing the Reach Out Service to tackle domestic abuse
• Introducing non-court ordered DV perpetrator programmes for the first time in Redbridge to provide perpetrators of abuse the help they need to change their behaviour
• Investing £2m in CCTV to upgrade picture quality to HD, moving from an analogue to digital system, increasing coverage and providing 24 hour a day monitoring
• Increased street light strength in areas where the public have reported crime and feeling unsafe

We want to understand the experience of women in Redbridge to understand how safe they have felt living, working and travelling through Redbridge.

Please take a few minutes to share your views in our online survey

 

 

 

 

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