Southampton granted £150,000 to tackle violence against women and girls
The money comes from a national Safety of Women at Night fund
Southampton City Council successfully bid for the fund from the Home Office to help prevent violence against women and girls (Image: Southampton City Council)
A national fund aimed at ensuring the safety of women at night has given a substantial grant to Southampton.
Southampton City Council has been provided with £150,000 to fund a number of initiatives focused on preventing violence against women and girls (VAWG).
The schemes will particularly focus on protecting women in public spaces at night.
This may include extra safety protocols in bars, clubs and restaurants and improvements to the routes that women commonly use to get home.
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Southampton is introducing new security measures where 'Safe and Well Monitors' and street pastors will help women who may have been separated from friends or who are otherwise vulnerable.
Other initiatives include increased CCTV operations, more night buses to ensure students get home safely and pop-up St John Ambulance zones.
Councillor Spiros Vassiliou, Cabinet Member for Communities, Culture & Heritage, said: "We know through national and local evidence that it is women and girls who face higher levels of violence and harassment in public places and we want to do all that we can to reduce incidents in the city.
"With this fund, we will be working with partners to deliver several initiatives to improve safety in hotspot areas including extra security, an increased police presence and the creation of safe spaces."
The Safety of Women at Night funding is in addition to the £192,545 Southampton received as part of the latest round of the Government's Safer Streets fund, which was created to increase the safety of public spaces for everyone.
The new funding coincides with Hampshire Constabulary's pledge to increase protection for residents through the StreetSafe scheme.
StreetSafe allows the public, particularly females, to identify areas where they feel unsafe. This information is then used by the police to improve local safety.
Inspector Clare Denyer from Southampton Central's Neighbourhood Policing team said: "We're really pleased this funding has been secured, recognising that reducing violence against women and girls is a priority.
"Tackling violence against women and girls is not something the Police can do alone, it requires support from a number of agencies and we can only make Southampton safer for women if we work together.
"To compliment this work, we have been working closely with many of our partners, including licensed premises, Street Pastors, Southampton's Violence Reduction Unit and CCTV operators to make Southampton a safer place for women and girls when they are out in public spaces."
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