Making our streets safer for women and girls

5:02pm - 20 October 2021
Woman walking down a street in the dark

Violence against women and girls in public places will be tackled in North Somerset thanks to new funding for prevention work and protection.

We made a successful joint bid for £324,449 with Somerset County Council to the Home Office’s Safer Streets Fund.

This money will be used for a two-pronged approach:

Prevention - education and awareness-raising to change behaviour and stop violence against women and girls happening in the first place, through education in schools and engagement with communities.

Protection – strengthening the response where these incidents are prevalent, such as introducing a safe haven scheme and enhancing the CCTV network and street lighting.  

This injection of cash could make a real difference in tackling these sorts of crime and help people and communities feel safe in public spaces.

Additional support to tackle violence against women and girls has never been so important, with high profile cases over the last few months.

A pilot scheme has also recently launched across the UK where you can report public places anonymously where you feel unsafe, because of street lighting, vandalism, environmental issues or more.

Visit the national police website for details.