Tower Hamlets Council took its community safety bus out into the borough to engage with residents and raise awareness of gender-based violence as part of this year’s campaign for White Ribbon Day and 16 days of activism. The awareness days are marked every year however, continuing to raise the profile of gender-based violence is a priority for the council.
The council and its partners organised a full timetable of training, webinars, awareness sessions and information events from 25 November, which is White Ribbon Day and the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to Sunday 10 December, Human Rights Day.
The council’s enforcement officers also spent a day at Whitechapel station, speaking to women and providing information and support on safety when out and about.
White Ribbon Day encourages everyone, including men, to come together to help stop violence against women and girls. It includes signing a pledge to promise to never commit, excuse or remain silent about male violence against women.
Tower Hamlets Council’s Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Hate Crime teams, plus the Women’s Network and Male Allies, encouraged staff at the council to sign the pledge during the 16 days. There were also closed training sessions covering honour based abuse and forced marriage, LGBTQ+ experiences of domestic abuse and survival sex.
Lutfur Rahman, Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, said: “1 in 3 women were subjected to at least one form of sexual harassment in the UK in the last year.
“This is a shocking statistic, and we are committed to making Tower Hamlets a safe place for everyone.
“These 16 days of activities are just one of the ways we are tackling gender-based violence in Tower Hamlets and we will continue to call out any form of abuse and harassment, making it clear that it is not acceptable in our borough.”
Sufia Alam, Chair of the Tower Hamlets Inter Faith Forum said: “I really hope these 16 days of activities have opened people’s eyes to the range of gender-based violence that happens around the world every day and what action we can all take to help stop it.
“By marking these important awareness days, we collectively condemn any form of violence against women and girls, showing that it will not be tolerated in our borough.”
During the 16 days of activism, Tower Hamlets Council also launched its new campaign to target sexual harassment and misogyny linked to the nighttime economy. Partnering with Hackney Council and City of London, #DontCrossTheLine was created in response to reports from local residents and venues that there has been a rise in misogynistic behaviours in the night-time economy since the Covid-19 pandemic.
It uses stark, perpetrator targeted messaging that lists the types of behaviours - like touching, groping, staring, or grabbing - that are not tolerated in nighttime venues in Tower Hamlets, Hackney and the City of London.
Posted on Friday 8th December 2023