Council's crusade to protect women on nights out in Wigan

The kidnap, rape and murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard by Met police officer Wayne Couzens last year lies behind the the awarding of Home Office cash to a number of local authorities, including Wigan.

And while, thankfully, Wigan has not suffered anything as horrific as the Everard case in recent years, there have been reports of assaults by men on women and, as the Wigan Observer has reported in recent months, there have also been several instances of spiking – either of women’s drinks or intravenously – which have led to the hospitalisation of victims.

Wigan is trying to reinvent itself as a hospitality venue and part of the crusade will be to reassure women that the town is a safe place to visit and so increase footfall.

The Observer met councillors, safety marshals and town venue licensees on Saturday night to discuss the issues they are hoping to tackle.

Assistant director for infrastructure and regulatory services at Wigan Council, Julie Middlehurst, said: “We’ve been able to roll out lots of initiatives, working with lots of partners and licensed premises who’ve been fantastic in taking up the offer of training in identifying vulnerability.

“Ultimately we want people to feel safe, particularly girls and women when they’re coming out at night and into the town centre.”

This project has been delivered by the Place and Community Safety Partnership which includes Wigan Council, Greater Manchester Police and other agencies. Safety marshals have also been put in place at weekends to patrol hot-spots along with St John’s Ambulance, to offer support and provide a visual presence.

Amanda Nicholls, service delivery supervisor for ExcluSec, which runs the safety marshal teams, said: “Over the past few weeks our marshals have conducted numerous Safety of Women at Night surveys and provided safety advice and assistance to members of the public.

"It has been a positive experience, with many residents approaching our marshals to say it was great to see them in the town centres and expressing that they have felt reassured knowing the marshals were present."

Local licensees have also accessed training schemes such as, Ask for Angela, as part of a long term plan to recognise vulnerable people and take a responsible approach.

Pub manager at the Moon Under Water, Sian McKenzie, said: “We operate the Ask for Angela scheme and have also been on the Wave training offered by Wigan Council that was really helpful in helping what vulnerability is.

"Ask for Angela is a scheme where somebody can come to the bar and ask for Angela if they are feeling vulnerable and as a pub team we would then help that person to safely either exit the pub, wait with them until somebody can collect them, or to get into a taxi safely.”

Awareness marketing campaign, Call It Out, has been created by Wigan Council with adverts displaying on digital billboards across the town centre. It aims to make the public challenge any inappropriate behaviour and get men on board with calling out other men.

It also includes specific safety advice around the incidents of drink-spiking and the operating of unlicensed taxis.

Ms Middlehurst said: "A big part of this initiative is to get men to call out other men when they see this behaviour and not just accept it.”

Two friends enjoying a night out said: “If we’re on a night out together, we make a pact to go home together. We don’t feel safe on our own but we feel safer together. If there’s lads in groups, you feel a bit vulnerable.”

Though targeted activity has been taking place within the community to tackle the issue of male violence towards women and girls, this phase of the project will be finishing along with funding at the end of March. Despite this, much of the work still has a long term focus especially around improving behaviour and attitudes and talking to the young people of society is a good place to start to create change and carry on this legacy.

Since the beginning of January, sessions have been delivered in schools across the borough discussing how everybody should be treated with respect and addressing some of the issues highlighted in this campaign.

Young people have taken part in consultations to express their views and help shape some of the work being done to help create a behaviour change.

Ms Middlehurst said: “We’ve done a lot of work with young people in schools where we’ve delivered over 235 sessions, reaching out to 2,500 young people in trying to help them recognise, both boys and girls, about behaviours that are accepted as the norm, language that boys may use towards girls and help them understand that it is unacceptable and that girls and women don’t want those types of comments.”

WigLe Dance was commissioned to produce an educational dance piece based on a poem by one of its members about the lived experience of women on nights out and address the issue of misogyny present in todays society.

Cabinet portfolio holder for police, crime and civil contingencies, Kevin Anderson, said: “The important thing to remember is that although the aspects that have been funded through the Home Office scheme are now coming to an end, our work to make a real difference and promote behaviour change will carry on.

“Through the engagement with young people, the amazing work by WigLe Dance group, working with businesses, training and educational support and the awareness campaigns, we will continue to make progress. It is a key part of our Deal 2030 plan that we want to ensure Wigan is a safe place to live and work for us all."