National crime statistics do not capture the deep pain and consequences caused by violence against women and girls. This was the main topic of the Northfield Labour Party Women’s Forum on 26 October with Simon Foster, West Midlands Police Commissioner, as a guest speaker.
The statistics will not help us walking on a dark winter night in badly lit streets. We demand our safety and protection. We cannot be safe if:
· One in 5 women are subject to sexual assault in their lifetime.
· The rape conviction rate is below 3%.
· 94% of employers do not have Sexual Harassment policy.
· In 28 weeks following Sarah Everard’s murder and 81 women were killed in the UK.
· West Midlands Police investigated 5,424 reports of sexual attacks against women and girls in 2020-21, including 405 rapes and 261 sexual assaults, but only 82 offenders were charged with a crime or received a court summons.
· Over five years, 2702 police officers have been accused of sexual violence.
Simon Foster shared our concerns. He pointed out that under the Tory Government, our police have suffered a 25% cut in the number of police officers. They are working hard to rebuild the West Midlands Police as an open, transparent, proactive and preventative service to communities. They have received 3.8 million funding from the Government. Councillor Nicky Brennan from Sparkhill was appointed as the first Victim Commissioner. A new Police and Crime Plan for 2021-2025 was approved, with combating violence against women and girls a priority. Simon is committed to:
· Better training and awareness of existing officers.
· More use of Independent Domestic Violence Advocates and Sexual Violence Advisors.
· Ensure that bail conditions are imposed.
· Use all available civil protection orders, ensuring breaches are dealt with proportionately.
· Encourage use of the robust domestic violence perpetrators programme.
· We need changes in the laws on misogyny.
· Enhance internal procedures to ensure scrutiny.
· Working with schools through various services including Pupil Referral Units.
It will take time to appoint more police officers, to reduce the waiting time for processing cases, and increase the use of civil protection orders. However, Simon has great knowledge and understanding of the issues, sees the need for clear and measurable objectives, and to work in partnership with existing high standard providers.
The Forum feedback was extremely positive, and the members welcomed Simon’s presentation and engagement.
Sanja Kalik, Women’s Officer
If you would like to talk to Sanja personally about anything that arises from this report, please contact her on kalik.sanja@gmail.com