Camden launches new board to tackle male violence against women and girls
Yesterday, Camden launched a new Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) board with the police, health services and community and voluntary groups to begin a new programme of action to improve safety for women and girls in the borough.
The first meeting took place yesterday on International Women’s Day with discussions on the progress taken so far to tackle male violence against women and girls as well the programme of action to come to deliver real change.
The board will meet every three months to drive forward the borough’s work on domestic abuse, sexual harassment, and other forms of Violence Against Women and Girls, and bring together partners, including looking at data on VAWG, increasing training and awareness and ensure that Violence Against Women and Girls is prioritised in Camden.
Those on the board include Council staff from housing, community safety and social care as well as the police, community and voluntary organisations and representatives from schools and universities.
Camden has always taken a stand against domestic abuse and violence against women and girls, however we know we have a long way to go. The aim of the Camden VAWG board will be to bring partners from a range of organisations to take collective action to make Camden a safe place for everyone – there’s a lot to do but I’m sure through this board we can make a real, lasting change to end gender-based violence in Camden.
Our priority is to ensure Camden is a place where women and girls feel safe to go about their daily lives without feeling intimidated, frightened, or threatened. We want the approach of Camden’s VAWG board to be on tackling these issues at its root by changing male behaviours and attitudes towards women and we will work together with partners across the borough to take action and put initiatives in place which ensure that men are being held accountable for their actions.
The launch of the Camden VAWG board follows on from a series of work to tackle gender-based violence in the borough, including a full council debate on VAWG and vigil on 22nd November 2022 as part of the 16 days of activism on gender-based violence.
Other work in this area includes Camden publishing a DVA action plan which led to a new housing and domestic abuse policy to ensure victims of abuse who are council tenants are properly supported and introducing mandatory domestic abuse training for all Council staff.
Support programmes for children and young people have also been introduced to help young people who have witnessed or been exposed to domestic violence as well as a new service which offers free legal advice to domestic abuse survivors.
The Council also recently ran a series of ‘Women’s Safety Walkabouts’ in partnership with the Police to understand where women in the borough do not feel safe and look at what we can do to tackle it.
The Council’s dedicated Camden Safety Net team also provides confidential support for anyone at risk or experiencing domestic abuse. The support is often a lifeline for survivors and helps them rebuild their lives.
For more information and support on domestic violence, including information on spotting the key signs of domestic abuse or unhealthy relationships head to camden.gov.uk/domestic-violence.