In a new campaign, Nottinghamshire Police are surveying women’s experience of feeling unsafe in public to drive positive change.
In 2016 Nottinghamshire was the first county in the UK in which the police included acts of misogyny as hate crimes, resulting in greater reporting and investigative powers. But there is still much progress to be made, and Nottinghamshire Police are driving that change with their ‘Walk In My Shoes’ campaign.
The campaign aims to get women and girls to report where they feel unsafe in Nottinghamshire and to better understand how they feel in the city and wider county, in order to create safer spaces in Nottinghamshire, and address misogyny early.
A series of public events and school intervention sessions will be held until the end of April to spread awareness and gather learnings, however the key call to action in the campaign is to encourage all women and girls in Nottinghamshire to fill out the survey (you can access the survey here).
Nottinghamshire Police acknowledges that the burden for change lies with the perpetrators, however the campaign provides an opportunity to listen to women in our communities and better direct future actions.
Nottinghamshire Police acknowledges that the burden for change lies with the perpetrators, however the campaign provides an opportunity to listen to women in our communities and better direct future actions.
Because action is needed. A 2021 YouGov poll found that 71% of all women in the UK had experienced some form of sexual harassment in a public space, with the number rising to 86% for women between 18 and 24 years old.
That is your mother, your sister, your partner, your friends - the women you know. And if they’ve never mentioned it to you, the depressing reason is typically not because they can’t talk about it but because it happens so frequently.
This leads to many incidents not being reported to the police as people think its not worthwhile or won’t lead to any genuine change. Hopefully Nottingham is leading the way in showing there can be genuine change and progress.
To fill out the survey, please visit here.
To read the full statement by Nottinghamshire Police on ‘Walk In My Shoes’, please visit here.
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