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Safer Streets Liverpool text message service launches
A text message service enabling women and girls to report sexual violence on the bus network is being launched as part of the Safer Streets Liverpool campaign today.
Safer Streets Liverpool is a £270,000 campaign jointly led by the Police Commissioner, Emily Spurrell, and Liverpool City Council aimed at making women feel safer and be safer using the region’s public transport network.
This new service will enable anyone who sees or experiences unwanted attention or sexual harassment while travelling by bus to report it discreetly and safely to the TravelSafe Partnership by texting SAFER to 65007, providing details of the incident including the date, time, location and route number, if it’s known.
Using their extensive CCTV system on buses and at bus stations, control room staff will then be able to monitor the behaviour, identify where sexual harassment and violence is taking place, and work with the police to bring perpetrators to justice.
This new text message service was specifically requested by young people, who said they felt this would be the method they would feel most comfortable using to report behaviour which made them feel unsafe.
Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said:
Merseyside’s Police Commissioner, Emily Spurrell, said:
Mayor of Liverpool, Joanne Anderson, said: “Nobody should have to encounter inappropriate behaviour and Safer Streets Liverpool is aimed at making sure women feel safe on public transport.
Chief Superintendent Ngaire Waine, VAWG lead, said:
Safer Streets Liverpool is a two-pronged campaign, putting in place practical measures to prevent and tackle sexual violence on the public transport network, while also increasing awareness and education about the types of behaviour no woman should have to encounter and how to report it.
Launched in March, the campaign has already delivered:
• Enhanced CCTV coverage at city centre bus stations in Liverpool One, Queens Square and Sir Thomas Street
• New ‘help points’ connected to the CityWatch control room and better links with emergency services
• ‘Safe spaces’ for anyone who feels vulnerable within travel centres at each of the bus stations
• ‘Bystander training’ for bus drivers and frontline bus station staff to help them better understand and know how to prevent sexual violence. The training will equip them to act as ‘guardians’, to make passengers feel safer
• Educational training for up to 70 schools across Liverpool raising awareness of sexual harassment and misogyny.
• A powerful visual communications campaign targeted at potential perpetrators, highlighting unacceptable behaviours, such as touching, groping and stalking.
For more information about the campaign please visit www.saferstreetsliverpool.com
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