72% of women don't feel safe at night in Cheltenham, survey finds
Cheltenham Borough Council want to understand how safe women feel
A survey has found 72% of women don't feel safe at night in Cheltenham.
Cheltenham Borough Council launched it in August to understand how safe women feel in the evening and at night in the town centre.
The local authority will then use the results to apply for the Home Office's safer street funding.
What were the results?
- Over 70 per cent of respondents said that they don’t feel safe at night, with 30% disclosing that they get regularly sexually harassed.
- A third of respondents said that these unwanted behaviours are happening regularly in pubs and clubs and despite the frequency of unwanted behaviours
- Just over a third are not telling anyone about their experiences
- When asked why respondents are not reporting, the overwhelming majority cited a lack of confidence that they would be taken seriously
- 94% of respondents told us that they have changed their behaviours following their experiences
- Cllr Flo Clucas, cabinet member for safety and communities said: “As bars, clubs, restaurants, theatres and festivals reopen it’s really important that everyone who uses and enjoys Cheltenham's vibrant night-life feels safe. I welcome the results of the survey, which although quite troubling, have given the council and its partners added impetus to our collective work.
- ‘’Respondents told us that all parts of the night-time economy need to take the issue of sexual violence seriously. Women in particular are telling us that they do not want to be blamed or asked to change their behaviours, instead they want to see a culture created where sexual harassment is unacceptable which would also see men being educated about the consequences of inappropriate behaviour.
- ‘’Our work is timely given the national interest in the safety of women at night following Sarah Everard’s horrific murder, the conviction of Wayne Couzens and the fact that least 81 other UK women have been killed in circumstances where the suspect is a man since her murder. That is 81 women in 28 weeks.
- ‘’I am taking a report to council on 18 October where I hope members will join me in agreeing how important it is for the council to demonstrate leadership on this issue and continue to work with its partners to make women feel safer at night.
- “Some of the commitments I will be asking my colleagues to commit to include developing a pledge for women’s safety, incorporate the pledge within our licensing policy and developing a communications plan to create a culture where sexual harassment is unacceptable.”
- At the full council meeting, members will discuss the Safety of Women at Night report, which outlines a range of programmes, activities and training to help increase women’s safety in Cheltenham.
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