Redbridge Council launches Women’s Safety Mission Statement

On Thursday 17 November, Redbridge Council launched the Women’s Safety Mission Statement at Full Council.

The Leader of Redbridge Council, Cllr Jas Athwal, was joined by the Mayor of Redbridge Cllr Thavathuray Jeyaranjan, Deputy Mayor of Redbridge Cllr Namreen Chaudhry, Women’s Champion for Redbridge Cllr Saima Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Crime Safety and Community Cohesion Cllr Khayer Chowdhury, Chief Executive Claire Symonds, Women’s Network Senior Sponsor Pervinder Sandhu and Superintendent Lisa Butterfield to officially launch the statement.

The Council, Police and partners share a mission to work together with local people, businesses, workplaces and institutions to ensure public spaces feel safer and are safer for women and girls in Redbridge.

Over the last two years, Redbridge Council has listened to the views of women and girls in a variety of ways to ensure a range of voices were heard. The listening exercises consisted of surveys, focus groups, safety walks and workshops and the findings shared formed the basis for the Women’s Safety Mission Statement. In total, the Council were able to hear from over 2,500 individuals about the issue of safety for women and girls in the borough.

In 2021 the Council also set up the Community Crime Commission to tackle crime and the fear of crime in the Borough. The Commission, an independent body made up of 16 commissioners, mainly residents, investigated five of the borough’s crime priorities, one of which was women and girl’s safety.

The Leader of Redbridge Council, Councillor Jas Athwal, said: “Everyone has a right to feel safe going about their daily life, free from harassment and abuse. Our engagement within the community has shone a light on the experiences of women and girls in public spaces. It is completely unacceptable that we live in a society where people are subjected to harassment, abuse and violence on the basis of their gender or sex.

“In Redbridge, we’re continuing to work closely with the Police, partners and local people to highlight the experiences of women and girls, to challenge the underlying attitudes which perpetuate violence against women and girls, and to take action to make our borough safer for everyone.”

Councillor Saima Ahmed, Women’s Safety Champion for Redbridge, said: “As a local resident and champion of women’s safety, I am committed to improving the safety of all women and girls in Redbridge.

“I understand that talking about experiences of sexual harassment and violence can be difficult, and I would like to take the opportunity to recognise and say a personal thank you to everyone that has shared their experiences with us.”

Read the Women's Safety Mission Statement here.