November 25th 2024.
It's time for us to address these heinous acts as the national emergency that they truly are. Almost fifty years ago, women in Leeds and other cities took to the streets for one unified reason: safety. At a time when women were advised to stay indoors due to a series of brutal attacks in Yorkshire, these brave women instead demanded that the streets be made safe for everyone. Safety from violence and abuse, and the freedom from fear were at the core of their movement. They were fighting for themselves, their sisters, their mothers, and their daughters. This was a significant and symbolic moment, one that should have been a turning point.
However, despite the support and efforts of our mothers and grandmothers who stood with the campaigners in Leeds, progress has been painfully slow. While our society has evolved since then, not enough has changed. Actress Saoirse Ronan's statement on The Graham Norton Show about the constant fear women and girls face on the streets went viral, resonating with countless women across the country. The reality is that many women have to constantly think about their safety when out in public, whether it's carrying keys in their hands, pretending to be on the phone, or planning a safe route after dark.
The recent murder of Harshita Brella, a young woman with her whole life ahead of her, has shocked the nation. According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales, one in four women have experienced domestic abuse, one in four have been sexually assaulted, and one in five have been stalked. These are not just numbers, but stories of trauma, pain, fear, and harm - both physical and psychological. It's time for us to recognize and treat these appalling crimes as the national emergency they are.
Our newly elected Labour Government has set an unprecedented mission: to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, not just through the efforts of the police and the Home Office, but through the entire government and society as a whole. This mission for safer streets is too important to ignore. We must start by taking stronger action in policing and the criminal justice system. One disturbing example is the case of Raneem Oudeh and her mother, who were killed by an ex-partner despite numerous calls to the police for help. No woman should ever be let down in such a way by the very system meant to protect them.
That's why our Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls Minister Jess Phillips and I have made it a personal priority to introduce Raneem's Law, something that Raneem's aunt Nour Norris and other families have been advocating for. Our government will also be implementing domestic abuse specialists in the first 999 control rooms, rolling out new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders for immediate protection against perpetrators, and working with senior police officers to improve standards and training in handling domestic abuse and sexual assault cases.
But addressing violence against women and girls involves more than just the police and criminal justice system. Prevention is crucial, and everyone must play a role. That's why we are taking action across the government, with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson working on stronger prevention education in schools, Transport Secretary Lou Haigh collaborating with British Transport Police for safer public transport, and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle strengthening laws against online intimate image abuse.
And it's not just the government's responsibility - it's everyone's. Initiatives such as Metro's This Is Not Right campaign, which aims to educate and empower readers on the issue of violence against women, are crucial and powerful. If you have a story to share, please reach out to us. We must all work together to tackle this violence and abuse, not just for ourselves but for our future generations. It's time to declare with one voice that our streets will never belong to stalkers, abusers, and rapists. Let's back up our words with action, so that our streets, communities, and homes are truly safe for all.
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
