Week of action to campaign for stop to violence against women and girls

A week of action to campaign for a stop to violence against women and girls is being launched today by Trafford Council.

As part of Operation Lioness, which runs in Trafford from November 10 to 17, the Council and the GMCA has organised a number of activities to raise awareness across the borough through its community safety team.

The campaign was launched nationally in 2021 following concerns around the safety of women on nights out across the UK. During the local week of action, the Trafford Council team will be in town centres across Trafford speaking to residents and visitors highlighting the work of the council and local voluntary and community services.

Specifically, the team will carry out a number of activities including: 

  • Engaging with taxi companies and licensed premises throughout the borough about women’s safety
  • Setting up stalls in Urmston, Sale and Altrincham and The Trafford Centre to give out personal alarms, information and other items
  • Giving out ‘Ask for Angela’ cards which urge women who feel threatened to approach bar staff for help
  • Campaigns around awareness of drink spiking, providing extra precautions in pubs and taxis, and CCTV training to help spot potential risks to women’s safety.
  • We will be working with our licensed premises around the issue of drink spiking, and giving out testing kits.
  • Training front line practitioners to tackle sexist and misogynistic attitudes.

 Cllr Jo Harding, Trafford Council’s Executive Member for Culture, Leisure and Strategic Partnerships, said: “Violence against women and girls is extremely worrying and, shockingly, has been rising in recent years. Women deserve to feel safe and it is awful that these incidents are continuing to take place across the UK and in our own borough of Trafford.

“This week of action is hugely important to highlight this issue, but the work doesn’t end here. This is part of a much bigger programme of work in Trafford, which aims to tackle the underlying causes of violence against women and girls.”

Bev Hughes, Greater Manchester’s Deputy Mayor for Policing, Crime, Criminal Justice and Fire said: “Gender-based violence is a significant, global problem. Despite much good work that takes place to tackle it, gender-based violence remains endemic. Through implementation of our radical 10-year strategy, I believe Greater Manchester can lead the way globally, demonstrating how a city-region coming together as one can deliver real social change.

“Greater Manchester's long-term strategy to end gender-based violence is looking at a whole system approach – that is, how our local councils, health services, housing, police, education providers and the criminal justice system amongst others, can work together to improve the lives and safety of women and girls across our city-region. At the heart of our approach is the voice of women and girls with lived experience of gender-based violence.

“It’s really important to see the work that is being delivered both locally and across the city-region to tackle gender-based violence. Greater Manchester’s #IsThisOK campaign calls on men and boys to talk about why the types of behaviour that contribute to gender-based violence are not OK. This week of action in Trafford is another fantastic opportunity to raise awareness of what gender-based violence is, how we can work together to stop it, and importantly, how anyone who feels vulnerable when out and about in the town can get help.”

 

 

 

Posted on Thursday 10th November 2022