Kingston Council launches survey to help make the borough safer for women and girls
The survey aims to identify the extent of harassment and abuse experienced by women and girls in public spaces in Kingston.
This will be the beginning of a long-term campaign to ensure that the voices of all women and girls are heard loud and clear.
Cllr Tim Cobbett, Deputy Leader of Kingston Council, said:
“We want to make Kingston a safer borough for all women and girls. We have recently established a working group with the Police, local specialist services and relevant partners to create an effective action plan around messaging, appropriate referral pathways, hearing the voice of the survivor, tactical and on the ground work as well as upskilling local professionals through training."
Cllr Caroline Kerr, Leader of Kingston Council, said:
“Through this survey, we hope to understand more about the experiences of women and girls, what are the social attitudes towards harassment and abuse towards women, and whether there are any barriers to seeking help.
“We also want to hear from anyone who identifies as a man or boy and lives, works or studies in Kingston. If you have ever witnessed threatening or intimidating behaviour towards a woman or girl in public spaces which made them unsafe, we want to hear about it.”
Respondents can also use an interactive map to highlight the areas where they don’t feel safe in the borough, whether there is a specific time of the day when they feel less safe, and leave suggestions for how we can improve safety in those areas.
The survey can be found on Kingston’s Let’s Talk Portal: kingstonletstalk.co.uk/women-girls-safety.
If you or anyone you know have experienced harassment and abuse from a partner/ex-partner or family member and would like support, please contact the Kingston DV Hub for support on 0208 547 6046 or the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
If you or anyone you know have experienced harassment in public spaces and would like to speak to someone, please contact Victim Support on 0808 168 9111. More information can be found on the Victim Support website.
If you or anyone you know have experienced a sexual assault and would like support, please contact the National Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999.
If you or anyone you know are concerned that someone might be stalking you and would like to access support, please contact the National Stalking Helpline for support on 0808 802 0300.
If you are aged between 13 - 19 years old and have experienced harassment or relationship abuse, you can access further information on the Gettingiton website.