Council discuss women’s safety

QR codes on benches could be used to help create safer streets for women and girls in West Lothian.

The scanning codes would allow people to privately record areas they feel are threatening as part of a range of work being considered as the draft policy is implemented.

Better street lighting and well maintained pathways will be the most obvious physical change to West Lothian as a direct result of the council’s new safety for women and girls policy.

That was the promise in the draft proposals agreed by the Community Safety Board: to create an environment that is less threatening to women and girls especially at night.

As part of this the council is considering working with StreetSafe, a new tool being developed by the Home Office where women and girls can privately record spaces where they don’t feel safe via their mobile phone.

This will enable the police and local authorities to pinpoint areas which need improvement.

Contact points for StreetSafe could be included in QR codes installed on street furniture.

A wide ranging survey published in December showed over 75 per cent of all responses felt that they were “A bit unsafe/ very unsafe” when walking alone in the dark in their own neighbourhood.

This applies not only to Livingston but also to any town or village in the county.

And it was the built environment, originally designed to separate people from traffic and roads, which caused the greatest fear.

In response to the question: “Are there any particular areas in West Lothian where you feel less safe?”, the top three answers were underpass/paths/ walkways/cycle path, with 716, representing a third of all responses; town or village streets with 595, and poorly lit areas with 225.

The council has allocated £200,000 to implement first step confidence building initiatives arising from the recommendations which came out of the survey late last year.

Council officers from operational services will now carry out a visual audit around the county highlighting areas where more public space lighting is needed and where shrubbery and overhanging trees makes footpaths narrow and create a more threatening environment.

Julie Whitelaw, interim head of customer services, told a meeting of the Community Safety Board: “This funding will be used to support delivery of the action plan, including £100,000 towards identification of locations which would benefit from additional street lighting /cutting and pruning of shrubbery and the delivery of additional street lighting and cutting back of shrubbery; £30,000 to provide personal safety alarms, £15,000 towards purchase, maintenance and operation of mobile CCTV and £25,000 to support a communications/ awareness raising campaign across West Lothian which will include use of media channels and the development of a StreetSafe Tool.”

The remaining £30,000 will be available for one-off projects which are identified by the Community Safety partners in the process of the further development of the plan actions.

The new policy also draws together partnerships with the police and Third Sector groups which offer support.

It also embraces successful schemes already up and running which offer safe space to vulnerable people.

These schemes include ‘Ask for Angela’, a code phrase allowing vulnerable women to get help from staff in hospitality venues, and ‘Ask for Ani,’ a similar system where victims of domestic abuse can ask for help through pharmacy staff.

Other initiatives could include safe transport for staff from late night hospitality venues through local taxi firms.

On a wider level ,the policy also moves into schools helping to educate teens and children, boys and girls, about respect.

And in the longer term it aims to change attitudes to issues such as domestic abuse, bullying and consent.