Council Seeking Views On Tackling Violence Against Women And Girls In Brighton & Hove

The city council is seeking views on the draft 'Brighton & Hove Violence Against Women and Girls' Strategy 2023 to 2026.

The draft strategy outlines the partnership approach to tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) in Brighton & Hove and they’re inviting residents, partner agencies, businesses and community organisations to help them shape the plans.

Violence against women and girls, as set out by the United Nations, is any act of gender-based violence which results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women and girls.

Crimes of violence against women and girls include domestic abuse, rape and other sexual offences, stalking, ‘honour-based’ abuse (including female genital mutilation, forced marriage and ‘honour’ killings), ‘revenge porn’, ‘upskirting’ and many others.

The focus on violence against women and girls follows data showing that women and girls are disproportionately affected by those particular crimes.

However, men, boys and others who do not identify as women or girls, are victims and survivors of these forms of violence and abuse too. The focus, they say, is on making all individuals and communities safe.

The 4 priority areas in the draft strategy on tackling violence against women and girls in the city are:

1. Developing a stronger co-ordinated response to all forms of VAWG irrespective of whether the incident occurs in private or public space. This means improving connections between services in the city to ensure that the support needed is available in the right place and at the right time.
2. Prioritising prevention to end violence against women and girls. This means providing better education for everyone about what violence against women and girls looks like in everyday life.
3. Supporting survivors to ensure anyone affected by VAWG receives high quality trauma-informed support. The aim is to make sure specialist support is available to all adults and children and everyone knows where to go find help and advice.
4. Building an accountable community and changing perpetrator behaviour by holding them to account to reduce the harm they cause. The focus of professionals – and wider society – can still too often focus on what the victim should do to ‘keep safe’ rather than the behaviour of the person causing the harm. The aim is to start changing this focus.

Residents can take part in the consultation on the draft Brighton & Hove Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy 2023 to 2026 through the online survey at https://consultations.brighton-hove.gov.uk/neighbourhoods-communities/vawg-strategy-2023-26.  

The survey is open until Monday, January 1, 2024.

The council is also holding a workshop looking at how to make Brighton & Hove a safer city for women and girls as part of their ‘Re-imagine Brighton & Hove’ project. 

Re-imagine Brighton & Hove is inviting residents to help create the positive change they want to see. 

They're hoping to learn from resident experiences, hear their ideas and turn them into action to help deliver the council’s plan.

The session looking at how can we ensure women and girls feel safe is being planned for January, with the date and location to be confirmed soon.

For details, visit www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/re-imagine-brighton-hove. 

Councillor Leslie Pumm, chair of the Equalities, Community Safety & Human Rights committee said:

“This strategy is a vital step in how agencies in the city work together to tackle the terrible impact of violence against women and girls.

“For anyone experiencing domestic or sexual violence, stalking or abuse in any form, please remember that you are not alone. Help and support is available. Abuse is a crime and it is not your fault.

“Please do share your views to help us make sure we’re doing all we can to put an end to all violence against women and girls in Brighton & Hove.”