Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls in Dorset

I fully support White Ribbon Day on Saturday which marks the International Day Against Violence Against Women. This important date also signals the start of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence which runs until December 10. This year, the global campaign is calling on people to show how much they care about ending violence against women and girls by sharing the actions they are taking to create a world free from violence towards women. As your Police and Crime Commissioner, it is an important time to reflect on the work taking place in Dorset to tackle these offences, as well a chance to highlight the services supporting victims of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). Throughout this campaign, I will be handing over my newsletters to some special guests to tell you about the work they are doing to protect women and girls in Dorset.

I am fully committed to doing all I can to enable the police and our partners to robustly deal with these abhorrent crimes, while I also continue to support the vital services helping victims and those working to prevent incidents of harm across the county. There is no doubt that women and girls must be safe, and feel safe, whether on a night out or in their own homes.

A key part of my seven-year Police and Crime Plan is dedicated to tackling VAWG, domestic abuse, stalking and other high harms. I want to assure you that there is no room for complacency when it comes to these offences. Since I came to office in 2021, I have been determined to create an environment in Dorset where all residents and visitors feel safe from violence, intimidation, and harassment.

From Operation Focus, which targeted those who cause the most harm to women and girls, ensuring enhanced investigations to maximise the opportunities to achieve charges, to Op Soteria, a national collaboration in which Dorset was one of 14 forces working towards developing a new operating model for the investigation and prosecution of rape and serious sexual assault cases, I want to be clear; I will fight to ensure Dorset is at the forefront of change to ensure protection of women and girls.

Recently, my office has launched a VAWG Improvement Panel which will review the work of Dorset Police’s VAWG agenda, to drive improvements and ensure the force delivers the most compassionate service possible. It brings together representatives from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, as well as victim services and volunteers to carry out a review of police contact related to VAWG incidents. This could range from domestic abuse to harassment and sexual offences. From here, the panel will provide constructive and critical feedback to ensure learning across the organisation. It is key that if we are to tackle these crimes properly, we must ensure our own work is of the highest quality.

A few weeks ago, I was also delighted to receive the news that we had been successful in our bid to the Home Office for nearly £1million of Safer Street Funding. The county was awarded £964,055 to drive forward projects, many of which focus on the safety of women and girls in the night-time economy. This funding will go towards projects including a Women’s Night Safety Charter, where businesses will nominate a champion within their organisation to actively promote women’s night safety, as well as new CCTV cameras in some areas and the integration of cameras from rural areas into the Dorset Council main CCTV control room. The money will also fund two daytime CCTV officers to allow for 24/7 monitoring.

One aspect of the bid I would especially like to highlight are the projects which had a particular focus on changing attitudes and behaviours. From the Community Guardianship Intervention Project to help students get back to their residence safely, to the expansion of the Pineapple Project’s community guardians who help ensure young women and girls have support to feel safe when going out, these schemes are vital to ensuring women and girls can feel secure in our communities.

There is one point I do want to reiterate, however. And that is it is not up to women to continually find ways to ‘stay safe’. We need to push for change across our society and tackle the deep issues which lead to so many men committing crimes against women. Getting to the root of this behaviour is the only way we can deal with the issue of violence against women and girls for the sake of our future generations.

I assure you I will be relentless in my drive to protect women and girls. Working with agencies up and down the country, as well as here in Dorset, I will do all I can to ensure we’re the safest county, and women and girls are free from the fear of abuse.

 

David Sidwick

Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner