North East Lincolnshire Council leads the way on educating about Violence Against Women and Girls

Over the past year, the North East Lincolnshire Community Safety Partnership (CSP), supported by the Police and Crime Commissioner for Humberside, has been talking to young people in the area about Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and delivering training based on what they told them.

The CSP delivered bystander intervention to nearly 1500 students from the Grimsby Institute, HETA (Humberside Engineering Training Association), and Franklin.

Bystander intervention training looks at the effects of street harassment and how someone can intervene safely. It includes the 5 D’s – Directly addressing the person causing harm, Distracting the person causing harm so they are no longer focussed on the victim, Delegate by asking for help from someone else such as a security guard, Delay by checking-in with the victim after the incident, and Document the incident by video or written notes if it is safe to do so, so the victim is able to use it as evidence if needed.

The team also spoke to Franklin students about societal norms and online influencers. The session focussed on a discussion about masculinity and femininity, and what it means to be a man or a woman.

Over a week, over 700 Franklin students took part in sessions looking at banter. While it is recognised that banter is an essential took in young people’s development and communication methods, it is all too easy to disguise bad behaviour as banter. These sessions looked at how to spot the harmful sexualised comments disguised as banter.

This training and education was tailored following in-depth discussions with students about what is most important to them in regard to VAWG.

When attending the Grimsby Institute and University Centre to talk to female students about safety, the CSP found that many of the women stated they would avoid certain areas where incidents had happened. They also said that most of them were resigned to the fact the poor male behaviour is now the norm.

At Franklin’s Keeping Safe day, the CSP attended and asked the question “What can be done to make women and girls feel safer?”

Many students responded with ideas such as:

• More education on social media
• More bystander intervention training
• Break the stigma of asking for help
• Better lighting in communal areas
• Access to personal safety apps
• Self-defence training
• Education for makes on how it feels

The CSP also delivered educational talks to adults with their women’s empowerment and networking event in February.

With 9 different speaker organisations topics included positive masculinity and male allyship, stalking advocacy and women in policing.

Councillor Ron Shepherd, Portfolio Holder for Safer and Stronger Communities said “The CSP do fantastic work raising awareness and delivering education on Violence Against Women and Girls.

“Having attended the empowerment event and the Reclaim the Streets walk the CSP organised, it is clear to see how important tackling VAWG is and how many people are willing to pitch in to do so.

“I’m proud to be part of the work to end VAWG, and I am looking forward to taking on the training to be an ambassador for the White Ribbon.”

If you want more information on VAWG visit White Ribbon UK

If you have been affected by VAWG and need support visit Humberside - Victim Support