‘WOMEN HAVE TO BE SAFE AND FEEL SAFE ON OUR CITY STREETS’
MAYOR AND CITY’S EQUALITY SPOKESWOMAN PLEDGE ACTION
WOMEN have the right to be safe – and also feel safe – on the streets of Leicester, the city’s mayor has said.
Sir Peter Soulsby reiterated a pledge by assistant mayor Rita Patel this week, who said she wanted every woman and girl in Leicester to feel safe, wherever they were in the city.
Sir Peter, a father of three daughters and granddad to three granddaughters, said he knew only too well how important discussions and debates were about women’s safety after the death of Sarah
Everard, in London.
He said: “There are some things that will take a lot of work, but equally there are some very practical things that we as a council can do to make women feel safer.”
EVERY woman and girl in Leicester should be safe and feel safe, the city’s mayor and equalities spokeswoman say – and have pledged to do their best to make happen.
Assistant mayor for equality Rita Patel and mayor Sir Peter Soulsby spoke out in the wake of the death in London on March 3 of Sarah Everard – and the resulting nationwide backlash against the harassment and abuse faced by women on a daily basis.
Councillor Patel offered her condolences to Sarah’s family and said the “daily uninvited comments and the invasion of our personal space in public spaces”.
She said there will be an immediate response is to make our streets, parks and public spaces safer.
‘Sir Peter Soulsby said that as a father of three daughters, and grandfather of three granddaughters, he knew how important recent discussions and debates were about women’s safety.
“As important as it is for women to be safe on our city’s streets, they should feel safe too,” he said.
“It’s important for us to address both of these issues.
“Women should be able to walk the streets without being subject to awful violence and assault, but also without the often much more common insidious way some men behave towards them.”
Sarah Everard’s case has started conversations all over the country, and Sir Peter said the city should be listening to women, and working closely with them as changes are made.
“The tragic, awful events act as a reminder of how vulnerable women can be and the role we can all play in making them feel safer.”
Sir Peter worked with Coun Patel on the pledge she made, and echoed what she said.
“There are some things that will take a lot of work, but equally there are some very practical things that we as a council can do to make women feel safer,” said Sir Peter.
Examples, he said, could include: “Street lighting, avoiding dark corners when we are developing areas and generally making spaces feel safer.
“There are conversations with partners that we can have about other things we can do.
“This is not a conversation that we will have because something awful has happened, this is something we are committed to doing and will do.”