£46,000 grant to make Kirklees safer for women

Following a successful partnership with the Government's Safer Street Fund, the district is to benefit from funding to develop preventative approaches, such as making parks safer for women and working with men to develop allyship.

Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, said: “The safety of women and girls is at the heart of my manifesto and a priority in my Police and Crime Plan, including the recording of misogyny as a hate crime in West Yorkshire.

“Here in West Yorkshire, we have been working extremely hard to bring in the necessary investment into our region.

“As leaders, we must do everything in our power, locally and nationally, to turn the tide against gender-based violence and improve safety.

“The police’s enforcement approach is key, but also working with partners as we have been doing in health, housing, transport, skills and education to achieve a public health solution, taking us further upstream to stop these horrendous crimes from happening in the first place.”

The tragic murders of Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa and Ashling Murphy have highlighted over recent months that more needs to be done to protect both women and girls.

As well as securing the £46,000 grant, Kirklees Council has also put other procedures in place to support the safety of women in the area.

The council is working with venues in the night time economy to join the “Ask for Angela” campaign, which allows anyone concerned for their safety to speak to venue staff who will in return offer the appropriate support.

As well as supporting the “Ask for Angela” campaign, Kirklees Council has also funded four street marshals to work on Friday and Saturday nights, ensuring people feel safe visiting night time venues and to make women feel less intimidated on a night out.

Councillor Carole Pattison, cabinet member for learning, aspiration and communities, said: “We have formed a working group with local organisations to ensure that women and girl’s safety is highlighted across all our activities and is given the prominence it needs.

“The group is planning engagement with women and girls and also with men and boys to identify further action we can take to address the normalisation of misogyny and harassment.

“We also are ensuring the recommendations from the Ofsted review into sexual abuse in schools and colleges, which stemmed from the survivors of abuse telling their stories on the ‘Everyone’s Invited’ website, are fully embedded into schools and colleges, and the wider safeguarding partnership, across Kirklees.“

Anyone who lives, works or visits Kirklees should feel safe and be safe. If someone feels unsafe in a public space they can report it on StreetSafe, an online mapping tool that allows people to flag areas where they don’t feel safe and say why. 

For more information, go to www.police.uk/streetsafe