Salisbury women helping Police identify city safety concerns
It's part of the Force's Walk and Talk scheme
A Salisbury woman championing female safety in the city has been helping Wiltshire Police identify concerns that remain.
It's part of the Walk and Talk scheme, which aims to protect women in Wiltshire by using first-hand accounts of how people feel in their community.
Cath from Salisbury Soroptimists, a group campaigning for women's rights in the city, has taken part in the initiative's second phase.
She highlighted how women are changing their travel plans to avoid putting their safety at risk.
"It's an increasing car world, but a lot of us want the freedom to walk. I'm hearing increasingly from friends, that people don't feel safe walking and they'd rather go by car somewhere when they wouldn't have done that ten years ago," Cath said.
She added that it can be 'quite unnerving' when women, on occasion, come across people are high or drunk, saying they can be 'quite aggressive'.
Cath continued, saying that escaping potentially dangerous situations is harder for older women.
She said: "If I hear somebody behind me, I will pause and stand sideways and have a look. When you're young, if you're threatened, you can run, when you're older you can't."
Cath called for men to be onboard with making the streets a safer place for women and girls saying it could be our sisters, wives, girlfriends, and daughters who are at risk of harm.
Temporary Superintendent Lucy Thorne, who leads the Force's Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) team, said the scheme is critical to gain an insight into how women really feel.
She said: “Feedback from Walk and Talk is shared with our partners in the local authority to see what we can do as a collective to improve the safety of women. It’s vital we work together to combat VAWG and improve how women feel in our area.”
Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson, said reducing anti-social behaviour is one of his top priorities.
He said: "It is too easy for women and girls to simply be told they are safe in the night-time economy in Wiltshire, as we do have lower crime rates than many urban areas, but we must ensure they are actually safe – and feel it too."
We can report feeling unsafe in a public space via the StreetSafe app.