PM seeks joint action to keep women, girls safe at night 

Reiterating his personal commitment to halve violence against women and girls, the Prime Minister will also confirm that his government will make spiking a new criminal offence…reports Asian Lite News

Police chiefs, industry executives and transport bosses must work together to keep women and girls safe, the Prime Minster will urge when he convenes leaders in Downing Street. 

Reiterating his personal commitment to halve violence against women and girls, the Prime Minister will also confirm that his government will make spiking a new criminal offence. This will send a clear signal that this is a crime, and perpetrators should feel the full force of the law, empowering victims to report offences and giving them confidence the justice system will support them. 

Speaking to leaders, the Prime Minister will set out how the new offence is just one of part of the solution. He will demand coordinated action across the police, transport network and venues to stamp out this cowardly act and take back our streets. 

This will include training thousands of staff working in the night time economy on how to spot and tackle spiking. Piloted from December, the training will help equip staff with the skills they need to prevent incidents, support victims and help police collect evidence. This will be rolled out to up to 10,000 bar staff across the country by spring next year. 

At the meeting, which comes just weeks before Christmas and when violence against women and girls is known to rise, the Prime Minister will hear from police forces and industry leaders about the tactics already being used to keep women safe and urge other forces and venues to follow their lead. 

Chief Constable Jason Hogg, Thames Valley Police, will set out how his force has deployed plain clothed officers into areas around bars and clubs to spot predatory sexual behaviour. This tactic is now being used by over 20 forces across England and Wales. 

Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi, British Transport Police will set out work being undertaken to keep women safe using public transport. This includes relaunching the text-to-report number, 61016, that is now free across all major networks, allowing women to discretely contact British Transport Police for help if they are or someone else is being harassed on the train. In one case, a victim texted 61016 to alert the police, officers met the train, and the offender was arrested just half an hour later. 

Kate Nicholls, CEO of UKHospitality and Chair of Institute of Licensing, will discuss supporting the Home Office in its plans to roll out nationwide training to make sure all door and bar staff know how to prevent spiking and have the skills needed to act if they suspect someone has been spiked. 

Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, the NPCC lead for VAWG, will talk about the ongoing scale and threat of violence against women and girls, its prevalence in the night-time economy and what policing needs to tackle offenders and reduce the number of victims enduring abuse. 

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, “My government was elected on a pledge to take back our streets, and we will never achieve this if women and girls do not feel safe at night. Today, I will bring together police chiefs, heads of industry and transport bosses to demand coordinated action to stop women being targeted, whether they are out with friends or simply travelling home.” 

“Cracking down on spiking is central to that mission. We know it can be incredibly difficult for victims to come forward to report this awful crime, and these cases can be very hard to prosecute. We must do more to bring the vile perpetrators who carry out this cowardly act, usually against young women and often to commit a sexual offence, to justice. That is why I made a promise that, if elected, I would make spiking a new criminal offence. Today, I am proud to have come good on that pledge.” 

Action against spiking is just one of the measures being taken to meet the government’s unprecedented manifesto commitment to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade, a fundamental part of the mission to make our streets safe. 

Within the first few months of being in office, the government has already announced plans to launch new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders to give greater protection to victims, and that domestic abuse specialists will be embedded in 999 control rooms. More announcements are expected in the coming weeks. Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper said, “Spiking is a disturbing and serious crime which can have a damaging and long-lasting impact on victims. That’s why today we are taking decisive action to prevent this devastating crime and to crack down on perpetrators, by introducing a new criminal offence for spiking and launching specialist training for thousands of bar staff nationwide. People shouldn’t have to worry about the safety of their drinks on a night out. These changes are about giving victims greater confidence to come forward, and ensuring that there is a robust response from the police whenever this appalling crimes take place.” 

Minister for Victims and Violence Against Women and Girls, Alex Davies-Jones, said, “Christmas should be a time for celebration and community but all too often perpetrators of vile crimes like spiking take advantage of festivities to target women and girls. As a society we cannot accept that, and this government is taking firm action to keep them safe – from creating a new criminal offence of spiking to working hand-in-hand with police and business to crack down on this behaviour. These are just some of the steps that will allow us to achieve our aim of halving violence against women and girls.” 

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