Trailblazing team continues to pave the way on women’s safety

15 November 2024

Trailblazing team continues to pave the way on women’s safety

A specialist team is making huge strides on improving safety for women and girls in West Yorkshire.

The Women’s Safety Unit, a national first, led by Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin, has received financial backing to continue for another year after making a significant impact across the region.

The announcement comes as the number of offenders brought to justice for rape and serious sexual offences in West Yorkshire has increased by 28.2% compared to the same seven-month period in 2023.

The pioneering partnership comprises of members from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, the region's Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP), and West Yorkshire Police.

Established as a pilot earlier this year, it is spearheading new collaborative ways to tackle violence against women and girls across the region.

This includes work in the following areas:

• Rolling out a pilot for 'Walk and Talk' initiative with police officers in Leeds
  
  
• Driving the use of civil orders to protect victims and survivors of VAWG offences
  
  
• Ensuring opportunities for the use of forensic marking in domestic abuse cases are optimised. The success in West Yorkshire has led to more than ten other police forces nationally adopting this innovative approach
  
  
• Independent Advisory Groups and Scrutiny Panels, which focus on engagement with partners and communities, particularly around opportunities for improvement and delivery of service
  
  
• Successful results around spiking awareness. During a week of action in September, there were more than 180 arrests for Violence Against Women and Girls offences and more than 100 visits to licenced premises to check on responses to women’s safety

Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin said:

"Every little girl growing up in West Yorkshire deserves to live a life free from harassment and harm. 

"That's why I've made it my priority to tackle violence against women and girls, and it's great to see our innovative approach starting to pay off. 

"By taking action, empowering victims and working with partners, such as West Yorkshire Police, we have seen more people brought to justice.

"But we mustn't rest on our laurels, and our Women's Safety Unit will now continue its important work for another year to help create that long-term change so desperately needed." 

Director of the West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Partnership, Detective Chief Superintendent Lee Berry is also the Head of the Women’s Safety Unit and added: 

“Ensuring the safety of women and girls across West Yorkshire cannot be realised in isolation. It has to be a collective approach. 

“The announcement of this continued investment is a huge signal of intent and a commitment to changing the experiences long term. 

“The unit has already been the catalyst for so much progress in the region, educating around attitudes and behaviours, whilst supporting key projects and interventions." 

The investment into the unit follows the ‘Reclaim the Night’ at Greenhead Park in Huddersfield last month.   

Guests at the event included Kirklees MPs Harpreet Uppal and Kim Leadbeater, former Lord Mayor of Leeds Al Garthwaite one of the co-founders of the Reclaim the Night movement, actor and poet Caitlin O’Ryan, and Kirklees District Commander Chief Superintendent James Griffiths.

Attendees heard speeches on the pressing need for change and found out more about the range of services available at information stalls. Together they stood up for the safety of women and girls by taking part in an empowering ‘Reclaim the Night’ walk.