A campaign has been launched to increase awareness of the safety of women at night in Cumbria.
Cumbria is one of the safest places to live and work in the England, but incidents of sexual harassment, and more serious crimes against women, do occur.
The campaign, launched by charity Crimestoppers and police commissioner Peter McCall, 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 Mr McCall 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 Carlisle, 70 per cent said they felt unsafe following incidents such as cat calling, wolf whistling or other inappropriate behaviour. Only five per cent 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 per cent said they reported this to the police.
57 per cent felt unsafe in their nearest town centre at night.
Gary Murray, regional manager for 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.”
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.
“While, 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 office of the crime commissioner, 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.”
Crimestoppers cannot take information from victims due to its 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
