The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, today published his strategy to tackle violence against women and girls, and the misogynistic attitudes that allow these crimes to continue, backed by a record £44m investment up to 2020.
Sadiq wants to make London the safest city in the world for women and girls, and that means every Londoner and every organisation playing their part to promote equality and to challenge sexist and misogynistic attitudes wherever they are encountered.
London is already one of the safest cities in the world for women, yet on average 11 women and girls are raped or sexually assaulted in each of the capital’s 32 boroughs every single week, while domestic abuse accounts for a tenth of all crimes reported to the Metropolitan police.
The Mayor’s new wide-ranging strategy follows the biggest in-depth consultation with survivors as well as Londoners, police and partners. It includes measures to tackle rape, sexual assault, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), trafficking, controlling behaviour, forced marriages, stalking, harassment, and misogyny – building on the recent international #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns.
The new plan for a safer city for women and girls includes:
On prevention:
o A wide-ranging programme to improve safety in public spaces at all times of day and night including a new Women’s Night Safety Charter, partnership to tackle unwanted sexual behaviour on the transport network and a new campaign to tackle attitudes of everyday sexism and misogyny
o Working with partners across London to gain accreditation to the UN Women’s Safer Cities and Safe Public Spaces initiative
o Work to encourage positive attitudes, behaviours and healthy relationships amongst children and young people with specialist advocates in schools and pupil referral units, Safer Schools Officers and a whole school prevention pilot in Croydon
o Supporting a Good Work Standard to address the #MeToo phenomenon and ensure abuse is not tolerated in the workplace
Tackling perpetrators:
o £4m for programmes to tackle stalking
o Working with police and criminal justice partners to ensure the most effective handling of dangerous individuals including over £3m to expand the rehabilitative Drive project which provides additional support to help reform the behaviour of perpetrators
o Calling on the Government to create a register for perpetrators of domestic abuse and violence, and for tougher sentences for image-based offenses such as ‘upskirting’ and ‘revenge porn’
Protection and support for victims
o £200,000 to support London Councils Harmful Practices programme – training nurses, midwives and social workers to recognise abuses such as FGM and intervene
o A complete review of adherence to the Victims’ Code of Practice, a new online portal for victims of crime, and a study into rape cases from a victim’s perspective
o Significant investment in general and specialist services for victims including £13m for sexual violence services, £5m for Domestic Violence services, and over £9m for services in London’s boroughs
