Thanet councillor Joanne Bright (Lab) will be bringing a motion to Thanet council next week in a bid to shine a spotlight on violence against women and girls and strengthen measures to keep females in the district safe.
Recommended actions include introducing a women’s safety charter to protect women on nights out, a public awareness campaign about safety initiatives such as Ask Angela and Community Shield, improving education for boys and young men by working more closely with local gender equality charities, youth organisations and schools, and using licensing tools to improve the safety of taxis.
Thanet has the highest Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) rates in Kent. VAWG includes crimes such as stalking, rape, and domestic abuse.
An assessment by the Thanet Community Safety Partnership shows there were 4152 VAWG incident reports in Thanet between November 2022 and October 2023.
This was a 12.3% reduction compared to the previous year but Thanet still has the highest number of VAWG incidents out of all 12 districts in Kent.
The Thanet Community Safety Partnership commissioned a study in 2023 which showed that 1 in 2 women do not feel safe in the district at night and 1 in 3 women don’t feel safe during the day.
Cllr Bright said: “VAWG includes crimes that take place behind closed doors as well as in public places. We need to be talking about this because it’s happening at scale and we need policy makers and community leaders to do all they can to help us challenge misogyny – which is where domestic abuse and sexual violence begin.
“There is already widespread agreement that this is an important issue but we still have a long way to go to reverse this trend of violence against girls and women. I hope the actions suggested in the motion will make a difference.
“It’s an issue that needs urgent combined efforts at all levels of government and with community leaders, schools, police and other partners, to stand any hope of reducing Thanet’s shocking VAWG and DA statistics.
“There is some good work already being done but it’s not enough – we need a cultural shift to change attitudes and behaviours and that can only happen if we’re having open conversations and working collaboratively to tackle misogyny that leads to VAWG in our schools, workplaces and social circles.”
Cllr Bright will be bringing the motion to a meeting of full council on February 27. Read it in full here
VAWG Conference
To build momentum about tackling VAWG in Thanet, Cllr Bright is also working with Thanet MP Polly Billington, East Thanet Labour Women’s Branch, Oasis Domestic Abuse Service, POW Thanet and other partners to host a women’s conference to get women talking about changes they’d like to see in the district to help them feel safer.
The meeting will also consider how to effectively challenge and reduce misogyny in schools, workplaces, public spaces and social networks.
The conference is free to attend and will be held on 1st March at ARK, Cliftonville. Any woman who would like to join can order tickets at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/eastthanetclp/1574558
Kent Police
Last month police officers in Thanet visited a community group in Birchington to promote the work being done to tackle violence against women and girls.
Neighbourhood officers met members of the Deaf Friends Beyond Words book club.
A number of role-play scenarios were acted out with the group, to show the members how to seek help if they experience inappropriate behaviour from another person.
The scenarios also took them through the steps of reporting an incident to police, and how an investigation progresses from initial report, to arrest and outcome. The participants were able to see the work carried out by officers to keep women safe and the support provided to a victim.
Sergeant Ben Rose said: “We are grateful for the warm welcome we received from the group, they were enthusiastic to get involved and really engaged with the scenarios.
“We take robust measures to deter violence against women and girls, and it is important that anyone who finds themselves a victim of such a crime knows how to report it and understands the process of detecting a crime and an offender.
“We often look at different ways to communicate with the community and by using various approaches according to the needs of the audience, such as role-playing, we hope it leads to more people feeling confident and empowered with the information they have learnt and to seek help when needed.”
National issue
Data published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in July 2024 found that nationally over one million VAWG related crimes were recorded by the police in 2022/23, which is equal to about 3,000 offences each day.
The data also found that recorded VAWG-related crime increased by 37% between 2018 and 2023, with one in every twelve women a victim per year.
The Labour government has pledged to halve VAWG by 2034. Amongst the measures announced are a pilot scheme to introduce domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms and specialist rape and sexual offences teams to be introduced in every police force in England and Wales.
we can only wait n see what happens
Why don’t you start with the immediate problem that women no longer feel safe walking along northdown road with the amount of crackheads and alcoholics or will you just continue to ignore it?
Let’s just hope Labour can now define what exactly a woman is.
https://www.christian.org.uk/news/labour-frontbenchers-unable-to-define-woman/
Peter, according to J. K. Rawlings, and she should know, a man may identify as a woman, but remains a biological man. Ditto that for a woman who may identify as a man, but will remain a biological women. To spell it out for you, how many women identifying as a man compete in male only sports, especially athletics? The answer is nil. No matter how much some people like dressing up in their opposite sex, they remain the one they were born with!
And of course, they can turn up in women’s “safe spaces”, which is why I raised it. Maybe cllrs Bright can clarify their standing on such an import part of women’s safety?
Seemed to be a problem with the Tories as well-nobody wants to rock the boat of the shouty. very minisucle minority. Why Stonewall write parts of government/civil service, police & NHS policy & we have had this lunacy for the last decade or so.
The tragedy is that young men suffer far more from violence than women and girls.
Surely, we should focus on all violence?
Very different things aren’t they.
Men aren’t often the victims of domestic violence at the hands of women.
Men aren’t regularly sexually assaulted by women.
Men don’t tend to be harassed in the streets by women.
Men don’t tend to avoid walking or running along dark streets for fear of being attacked by women.
We live in dark times – where young boys and men are increasingly in thrall to the likes of Andrew Tate – so it’s really important that we take collective action to do everything we can to stand up for our mums, wives, girlfriends and daughters.
When I worked as a doorman at the Winter Gardens, I was forever having my a–e grabbed by drunken women, and hated every minute of it. However, management refused to take my complaints seriously, never ever ejecting offendees. It was a completely different story if a waitress was touched up (unless it was a certain now deceased pub chain owner, who could somehow get away with being very “hands on”). Yes, women’s violence is a very important issue, but attitudes need to change to protect males too.
You paint too rosy a picture. It is a fact that young men are the main victims of street violence.
You correctly point out that women mostly suffer domestic violence – that happens in the home, at the hands of a partner or other male relative.
The fears some women express are brought upon in no small measure by opinions such as yours; the normalisation of perceived violence in the streets.
Correction Councillor, as a man, albeit elderly, a few years ago as I was walking down my road in the dark, 3 women charged out of a house and verbally assaulted me, screaming and threatening! They were mistaking me for someone else, but it was a frightening experience, one that I stopped by threatening them with a “Criminal Identifier” hand held spray (perfectly legal, and I advise everyone to get one, they are reasonably priced, and I have had to threaten to use it 3 times)
You must have the unfortunate lcuk to look like a local reprobate.
Well “Suspended” in the other 2 cases one was when a young man tried to steal a baby from its pram, and the mother was going berserk. I frightened him off because he thought I had a “Pepper Spray”. In the other case I was verbally attacked in Ramsgate High street by a couple who were dealing drugs, and who I had previously reported to the police, and they knew it! So although being an elderly gentleman, who always takes pride in my appearance, I saw all 3 cases as my duty. The “Criminal Identifier” that I always go out with, was confiscated by the police in error, who later had to refund the cost to me, as they are perfectly legal and I suggest everyone should have one. They shoot a jet of water soluble paint about 3 meters, and can be used to temporarily blind someone, until the paint is washed out! During which time the offender can be safely arrested.
Is that reality though, or the stigma that most men will not report being beaten up by a woman? In decades past guys were laughed out of the cop shop when they reported it-still things aren’t that great for them nationally & the resources for them are still nominal.
After all we always assumed the noncing problem in schools was male on female & male on male. However as we have seen this century & especially the last several years here & even more in the US the overwhelming reports are female teachers sexually assaulting/raping male children or ‘having sex/affairs’ as the media term it, rather than describing it as sexual assault, as they would if a male does it. How about changing those attitudes?
No doubt there have been many women getting away with it for decades due to the stigma of males having to admit to it & the attitude that they must have loved it/where were those teachers when I was at school etc comments from other men & men getting the snot beaten out of them.
Councillor Bright… just another male-hating feminist using any excuse to push her own agenda. Cllr? that’s just another way of saying “useless bottom-feeder”
“where young boys and men are increasingly in thrall to the likes of Andrew Tate” … where do you did this bigotted rubbish up… Don’t tell me… probably tiktok or F Book.
Men aren’t important-especially us middle aged, white patriarchal, mahoganists.
It won’t make a bloody difference. Thanet doesn’t abide by the laws of England. Crime gets reported, you supply video evidence, of whats happening. You get done for recording the incident without permission. You live the rest of your life with threats, intimidation and anxiety to leave the home, and no way of recording and proving what’s going on anymore, leaving you in the position of it’s just your word against there’s.
Then you hear, your not the only victim. He has a new girlfriend. He boast how he makes her eat and sleep off of the floor. He’s beaten her up and threw her out on the street naked.
Nobody does anything about the family. the brothers boast how they deliberately go out in the evenings to start fights at clubs and bars.
They are untouchable.
Maybe women should avoid them like the plague & pick a nice boy instead?
Most of Thanet’s residents do abide by the laws of England.
I think its a big problem on the streets mainly at night..even myself as a man i dont feel safe at night even going out to local shops..the modern street lights dont help as they are led’s and are so dim and the streets so dark !!! giving cover for bad people to wait around the streets under this low light cover of darkness !!! i also think there should be more police out on the streets patrolling rather than driving around in cars…we need a return to the old days of the good old street bobbies.
Yes – as well as policing – the very poor 21st century lighting needs addressing by councillors. But I guess supposedly “saving the planet” is more important to them than peoples’ safety.
Your right this 21st century lighting needs to be addressed and needs changing back to the old lighting which at lest lit up the streets better..this modern 5G pulsed lighting is utter crap !!! no one asked the public if they wanted this modern lighting which just appeared out of nowhere…the streets are just too dark and unsafe.
I have no qualms about going out and about after dark. If I find myself a bit short of milk at 9 p.m. , I’ll nip up to the local mini-mart or whatever.
Phyllis Quot- I do too.
Apropos Kristian Bright’s comment- I don’t think he is normalizing “perceived violence in the streets”, but referring to the fact that many women are anxious about walking on their own after dark.
So are most men. Much better to be in bed at 10 with a nice mug of cocoa.
Ms Quot- that is, I too go out after dark to buy milk, or whatever I need.
Do you do so in your dressing gown & slippers? I sometimes see women coming back at 8 in the morning with milk, biscuits & a newspaper dressed in them.
Nationally, domestic abuse is statistically more likely to happen in mixed race or black households. How are you targeting those communities / individuals for special awareness training ?
They’re not going to risk upsetting ethnic minorities, anymore than they are the LGBTetc community. It’s far, far easier to pose for a group selfie while blaming everything on straight white males.
Taking race out of the equation, the problem that is deeper set is they don’t want to address & just shout the m word-women put themselves in vulnerable positions via alcohol/drug use & walking home in the dark at ungodly hours, taking short cuts through parks & back alleys etc-making them an easy target for the sickos out there at night time. We were seeing it on Crimewatch 40 years ago & still seeing it now.
We would all like to be free to go out at night doing things without fear, but that never has & never will be a reality. Would even a strong man feel safe going to a cashpoint at 3AM to get hundreds of quid out? Why is it that promoting taking taxis home & sticking together & looking after your friends, rather than getting into arguments, or copping off & leaving them on their own is somehow infringing on their rights? There are no rights at that time of the morning-there are vermin out there looking to exploit you.
It will need a change of behaviour on both sides-women need to respect themeselves more to change a lot of men’s perception of them. In recent years with Social Media, Onlyfans etc they are just making themsleves look even more like random sex objects for men. The ‘role models’ women are shown are generally these women, not those who have gone on to become big deals in science, physics etc & thus their percieved value revolves around their apperance & bodies.
Afraid whining about idiot grifter Tate, the incels etc isn’t going to help the issues. These problems have been around since the beginning of time 7 the minority of men who do this are unlikely to change, risk reduction is key.
I have watched many crime stories on youtube in America and Canada and the numbers of young girls who get murdered as they walk home at night from bars and clubs is terrible !!! even many joggers in the day time are attacked and raped and then murdered to shut them up..i feel that woman should maybe be allowed in every country to carry protection like pepper spray which could save their life..and maybe learn self defense…the law should be more on the side of the victim and not the perpetrator.
Generally it would be of little use-because the guy will hide & ambush them from behind & very few women are going to be able to fight off a man. Only useful if a guy is following/stalking a woman & she twigs him.
Eamonn Holmes got a lot of stick several years back from the rabid feminist brigade for recommending women take taxis home late night/early hours, yes the way he said it was somehwat flippant.
The message was the right one, but of course feminism has changed from women actually wanting to help women, to wanting them banned from doing lucative modelling jobs or being walk on girls for sporting events-because of their own moral beliefs they need to ram down others throats & have cost these women vast sums of money-some sisterhood eh? Surely advising women not to walk alone late at night-often in a vulnerable state from partying would be hugely sensible & sisterly? Because the guys that do this stuff overwhelmigly have an incurable problem-they don’t change.
Instead we get the ridiculous retort of women should be safe to walk where they like at night time? Well of course they should, just like we should all be able to leave our doors unlocked 24/7 without the fear of being burgled or worse, but it never has & never will be a reality.
“SGBNA” -Who were “the rabid feminist brigade”? I have been a feminist since early childhood- though I didn’t know the word feminist when I was a primary-school-aged child- but none of my feminist friends and relations are or were “rabid”.
Phyllis, you are so right. Young men have an awful time, and are sometimes abused by women. I am fed up with the genderising of what is frankly the need for safe public environments for all. Where are the Police, why are the streets so filthy, why is lighting so poor, house the homeless, and address the need of young people generally, many of them are locked in and have little varied and meaningful extra curricular activities. Both men and women get raped, physically abused or murdered. As a lifelong feminist, I believe in equality for all. Make Thanet safe again and stop fiddling with what are becoming divisive priorities.
You are very right in what you say !!! where are the police ??? when do you see bobbies on street patrol ??? the street lighting is so bad and the streets very dark !!!! we need pre vention of crime before it takes place….it feels like the system does not care about its people.
Male violence is the problem. It harms women and men, and the relentless misogyny and victim-blaming in these comments only serve to excuse it.
Those here claiming this is not a question of gender seem unfamiliar with the undeniable statistics. In England and Wales, over 85% of homicide suspects are male. More than one million crimes of violence against women and girls (VAWG) were recorded in 2022/23—that’s 3,000 a day. Men are also far more likely to be victims of violence, but overwhelmingly, they are attacked by other men. The common denominator is male violence.
Yet here, instead of acknowledging this reality, we see comments derailing the conversation—trying to make male violence against women about men, while dismissing the scale of women’s victimisation. The idea that men “suffer more” completely ignores the fact that only men can legally commit rape in the UK, because it requires penetration. Women can commit sexual offences, but in the eyes of the law, only men rape—and they do so at staggering rates.
Victim-blaming is yet gain rife in these comments too, with tired excuses about what women should do to “avoid” violence. Women are attacked in their homes, by their partners, in broad daylight—this isn’t about what they wear, where they walk, or how much they drink. Men are responsible for male violence. It is their behaviour that needs to change, not women’s.
Instead of whining about how women’s safety initiatives don’t centre men, or pretending male violence is some natural force beyond control, men in these comments could be asking themselves what they’re doing to challenge it. The fact that so many would rather play the victim, or blame women, speaks volumes about why this crisis persists.