The charity Crimestoppers in partnership with the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cumbria, Peter McCall, today launched an important new campaign to help increase awareness of the safety of women at night in Carlisle.
Cumbria is one of the safest places to live and work in the England, but unfortunately incidents of sexual harassment, and more serious crimes against women, do occur. The campaign seeks to challenge attitudes, change behaviours, encourage reporting, and signpost victims to where they can get help and support.
The ‘Everyone has the right to feel safe at night’ campaign was launched at Carlisle Train Station, and will focus on the night-time economy, women out exercising, and travelling to and from work, school, or university.
The campaign is being run following extensive dialogue with partner agencies in Carlisle and Cumbria, and in response to the recent “Call It Out” survey, by the OPCC and Cumbria Police.
The survey asked women and girls how safe they felt living in Cumbria and had over 5,000 responses, over a third of these were from the Carlisle area.
Of those respondents living in the city, a significant number (70%) said they felt unsafe following incidents such as cat calling, wolf whistling or other inappropriate behaviour. Only 5% of respondents reported this to the police.
Over half said they have experienced an offence of some type during a time in their lives. These offences included: sexual harassment, sexual assault, or rape.
Only 15% said they reported this to the police.
57% felt unsafe in their nearest town centre at night.
Gary Murray, Regional Manager for the charity Crimestoppers, said: “Although society is in broad agreement that women and girls have a right to feel safe in their everyday life, particularly from sexual harassment, the experiences of women and girls who are subject to harassment and abuse continues to be all too common, and the harm resulting often ignored or normalised.
“Our campaign is designed to spark conversations to challenge this societal acceptance of misogyny or effective contempt for women and to encourage discussion about what is acceptable behaviour towards women when they’re going about their everyday lives and socialising or enjoying the night-time economy.
“We want people to be aware of the things they can do to help make women and girls feel safer, particularly at night, especially in the winter months, and in less well-lit areas. We want to spell out what constitutes a crime and how to report it, therefore challenge perpetrators on their behaviour.
“If you know the identity of those who have carried out crimes against women or girls then please contact our charity 100% anonymously. Since we began in the late 1980s, we’ve always kept our promise that everyone who contacts us stays 100% anonymous. Always. If you have information, please use our anonymous online form atwww.crimestoppers-uk.org or call our UK Contact Centre on 0800 555 111.”
Peter McCall, Cumbria Police and Crime Commissioner said: “No one should ever feel unsafe when out at night in Cumbria and it really is unacceptable to see that many women and girls feel this way.
“It is not the responsibility of women and girls to keep themselves safe – it is a societal duty, we all have a responsibility to respect and protect each other and speak out against any unacceptable behaviours that lead to women and girls feeling threatened and, in worst case scenarios, being physically attacked.
“This is why I have funded Crimestoppers, with £25,000 to launch a campaign to target and call out the behaviours of those that make the women and girls of Cumbria feel unsafe.
“The funding was provided following a successful bid to the Home Office’s Safety of Women at Night (SWAN) Fund and will focus on Carlisle.
“I would urge anyone who feels unsafe or threatened to report it to the Police on 101 or 999 in an emergency or you can report to Crimestoppers anonymously.
“If you are sexually assaulted or experience sexual violence but do not wish to report it to the Police you can call the Bridgeway on 0808 118 6432.
“The Bridgeway has a professional, compassionate team of experts and offers medical, practical and emotional support to anyone who has been sexually assaulted or raped.
“Please reach out if you have experienced sexual assault – you are not alone.”
Cumbria Constabulary Lead for Rape and Serious Sexual Offence, Detective Chief Inspector, Vicki Coombes, said: “We are never complacent about an issue as serious as violence against women and girls and we know it rightly concerns those in our community.
“Whist, relatively speaking, violence against women and girls remains low in the county; deterrence and detection of such offences remains a priority for our force.
“We work closely with Crimestoppers, the OPCC, and multiple partner agencies to enable us to provide comprehensive levels of service and support. This includes running a number of proactive initiatives in the county, such as: SWAN, Ask for Angela, Operation Vigilant and awareness campaigns.
“For anyone reading this who has been the victim of such an offence, I would urge you to contact the Police now, so we can support you and investigate any crimes committed. All reports are taken seriously and sensitively and duly investigated by specialist officers. However, we are also mindful that not everyone wants to report incidents to the Police.
“For those survivors/victims in this situation, I would urge you to contact local support services, independently, so they can confidentially support you. Getting the right support can be vital to taking the next positive step forward in someone’s life.
“Survivors/victims of sexual offences can contact a number of local independent charities including Victim Support or The Bridgeway (Sexual Assault Referral Centre). Specialist support available includes services such as counselling, rehoming, financial advice, legal advocacy and more.
“Please don’t suffer in silence, support is available now.”
Bridgeway Co-ordinator and Crisis Worker, Clare Markey, said: “The Bridgeway are delighted to be to be supporting this campaign alongside the Police and Crime Commissioner, Cumbria Police and Crimestoppers.
“Sometimes people are affected by rape and sexual assault and The Bridgeway are available to support you no matter what.
“You don’t have to report to the Police to access our services.
“If you are 16 or over, you can self-refer to The Bridgeway and you will be given the same care and support as if you have reported to the Police and you then have the choice to report to the police later if you wish to.”
“If you have been affected by rape or sexual assault, please do not hesitate to pick up the phone and call us. The worst that can happen is that we can make it better.”
The charity Crimestoppers cannot take information from victims due to our anonymity promise. Victims need to speak directly to the police or seek help from the following organisations:
- The Bridgeway Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Penrith – 0808 118 6432
- Gateway 4 Women, Carlisle – 01228 212 090
- Victim Support – independent charity in England & Wales that provides specialist practical and emotional support to victims and witnesses of crime on 08 08 16 89 111
