n impressive line-up of speakers and attendees was brought together by the City of London Crime Prevention Association in February 2023 at the Livery Hall, Guildhall in the City of London to address crimes of violence against women and girls (VAWG) and domestic abuse (DA).
A
Awareness event on Violence Against Women and Girls and Domestic Abuse
During a packed two hours, the objectives were to create a greater understanding and promote awareness with an emphasis on taking action. As chair, Don Randall MBE CSyP shared motivation for organising the event as the startling increase in rape offences and a disturbing revelation by a colleague that she had experienced three separate incidents: sexual assault, harassment and drink spiking.
Shared Views
It is clear that there is a consensus on many aspects of these insidious problems. In her welcoming speech, Angela McLaren,
Commissioner, City of London Police, said: “Violence
against women and girls is deep
with men and boys as allies.” She added: “We know it is a continuum of violence, we need to get involved with low-level behaviour, men need to be empowered to call things out.”
Shocking Statistics
The speakers shared the related statistics and Lucy D’Orsi commented: “The statistics are alarming. One in six women have experienced unwanted sexual behaviour on public transport. One in four women experience domestic abuse.” Susan Bright from EIDA highlighted that two women a week are killed by a partner.
T/Det Chief Supt Matt Pilch from the Metropolitan Police Domestic Abuse Unit added: “In the last 12 months, there have been 150,000 reports of domestic abuse incidents, 96,000 domestic abuse crimes reported and 67,000 suspects.”
Insights from Survivors
Shital V, founder of FREE2BYou Foundation shared some of her lived experience of domestic abuse. She described how it is about power and control and how some men feel entitled to entirely control the women in their lives, isolating them, making them subordinate and destroying their self-belief.
Domestic abuse can also impact men. Paul, a victim and survivor, shared his story. He endured a long journey of abusive, controlling behaviour. He eventually managed to survive this experience with much involvement and support from police, social services, his employer and charities.
Difficult time for policing
Commissioner Angela McLaren
rooted and complex. The police cannot deal with this alone; we work best in partnership with the public, private and third sector.”
Lucy D’Orsi, Chief Constable, British Transport Police, added: “This affects us all and cannot be ignored. We all have a role to play.”
Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi
The police representatives spoke with candour about recent tragic and shocking crimes involving police officers. Angela McLaren said: “Trust and confidence is low.” Lucy D’Orsi added: “The abhorrent behaviour of some police officers is sickening.” Inspector Stephanie Williamson from the College of Policing spoke of 2021 as the watershed moment for policing legitimacy. Matt Pilch said: “Professionally and personally, I am
embarrassed having these colleagues. It is going
to take a long time to recover confidence in us.”
There were frequent references to these crimes representing a societal problem. Lucy D’Orsi said: “There is a culture around violence; we need to make a culture that is inclusive, respectful and safe.” Anthea Sully, White Ribbon UK, added: “These crimes can be prevented, we need to hold onto that. We want women to live free from violence.” She outlined some of the cultural changes that White Ribbon support: “We need to engage
17 © CITY SECURITY MAGAZINE – SPRING 2023
Insights into current initiatives The speakers provided useful insights about initiatives currently taking place:
New Policing Framework for Delivery
Lucy D’Orsi explained how December 2021 brought a new national framework for delivery for policing violence against women
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workplaces with briefings and training, providing: “powerful awareness raising and encouragement to unite to end violence”.
and girls. In a fundamental shift, VAWG is now a national strategic priority. It will be treated with the same commitment and determined action as counter terrorism. Stephanie Williamson spoke about the VAWG taskforce. Their goal is to drive consistency in police forces across the country, promoting best practice and building related policies and performance frameworks. A key part of this is rebuilding confidence and trust, a relentless pursuit of perpetrators and creating safer spaces for women and girls.
BTP Initiatives
Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Furnell spoke about a pilot with TFL – banning predatory people from the rail network – toolkits and training. He also highlighted the BTP media campaigns and how their purposefully provocative approach is helping to encourage bystander intervention on staring, cat calling and sexual harassment.
The imabi Platform
Mark Balaam introduced imabi – the unified technology platform that aims to tackle harmful and unacceptable behaviours. This unified platform can be tailored and customised and is behind a number of safety products including the BTP Railway Guardian app and other applications for schools, businesses and a soon-to-be released community version.
Training
Providing training was a key theme for many of the speakers. Bethany Nash of Safer Business Network introduced Wave training. This staff-based training provides intervention guidance on difficult situations and more than 10,000 people have already been trained. They are offering free events, face-to-face and online training, and are also looking to make this available as an e-learning package.
Anthea Sully, White Ribbon UK, also emphasised the importance of training. They are working with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust on bystander training – gentle ways to effect change. White Ribbon also transforms
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