Independent advisory group discusses violence against women and girls

Leicestershire Police is committed to tackling violence against women and girls – and is continuing to engage with partner agencies and the wider public in order to do so.

Yesterday evening (Thursday 2 December) an independent advisory group met online to discuss a variety of issues ranging from domestic abuse, sexual assault, safer public places as well as public trust and confidence. This is part of an ongoing conversation as our plans to tackle these issues continue to develop.

Assistant Chief Constable Julia Debenham, who chaired the meeting, said: “Meeting and discussing the issue with partners, stakeholders and the public is an important part of our strategy to tackle violence against women and girls.

“We will continue to work closely with others to bring offenders to justice and to safeguard those at risk. We are also keen to improve women’s perceptions of safety across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland and to ensure that women have the highest level of confidence in our ability and commitment to assist them ”

During the meeting, attendees were given an update on what steps the force has taken to ensure women and girls are protected in our communities.

This has included discussing funding allocated to Safer Streets – covering 18 parks across the force area – 12 in Leicester and six in the wider county and Rutland.

A new online tool – StreetSafe – has also been launched, where members of the public can flag areas on a map where they do not feel safe, regardless of whether or not a crime has taken place. This will inform Community Safety partnership activity.

“We’ve seen an increase in the number of reports we’ve received regarding domestic abuse and controlling and coercive behaviour,” added ACC Debenham.

“we are determined to ensure that we are identifying those at risk of these offences and dealing robustly with perpetrators. We want to ensure that victims feel confident in the police and that they’ll be listened to and supported through an investigation.

“We’re delivering specialist training to all frontline officers and they are given regular updates on the latest legislation and guidance on how to approach and manage any reports of domestic abuse and stalking. It’s important that any officer responding to such an incident is able to take the appropriate decisive action to ensure the victim does not come to further harm.

“Specialist training has also been delivered to officers working in our domestic abuse, child abuse and rape and sexual assault departments.”

• Further information about domestic abuse, including advice on how to make a report, can be found by visiting https://www.leics.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/daa/domestic-abuse/
• Further information about StreetSafe can be found by visiting https://www.leics.police.uk/notices/street-safe/street-safe