Merton Council has now signed up to the Women’s Night Safety Charter, part of the Mayor’s Tackling Violence against Women and Girls Strategy.

As part of the charter, organisations that operate at night and more than 20 London boroughs agree to sign up to the following simple pledges which aim to to create a safer environment for women at night:
– Nominate a champion to actively promote women’s night safety
– Demonstrate to staff and customers that your organisation takes women’s safety at night seriously
– Remind customers and staff that London is safe but tell them what to do if they experience harassment
– Encourage reporting by victims and bystanders
– Train staff to ensure that all women who report are believed.
– Train staff to ensure that all reports are recorded and responded to.
– Design your public spaces and workplaces to make them safer for women at night

The council continues to work towards achieving White Ribbon accreditation. White Ribbon UK is a charity that engages with men and boys to end violence against women and girls, and accreditation is a public commitment to working towards changing attitudes, and encouraging behaviour change among men and boys.

Merton’s successful bid for Home Office Safer Streets funding will also include work such as training for our male residents so they can understand their role in keeping women and girls safe, as well as focus groups with women and girls so we can better understand women and girls concerns about their safety.

Councillor Eleanor Stringer, Cabinet Member for Civic Pride, said: “Signing up to the charter represents an important milestone in our efforts to improve safety for women and girls in the borough, and I look forward to us also receiving White Ribbon accreditation.

“Women must feel safe on the streets of the capital after dark, and this initiative, among other moves, commit us to making Merton, already one of the safest London boroughs, into an even more welcoming place.”