A survey on creating a safer borough for women and girls was launched today (12 May) by Kingston Council.

The survey aims to find out how much harrassment and abuse of women and girls happens in public spaces in Kingston, as part of the Council's efforts to protect the safety of female residents.

It takes give to ten minutes to fill out and is available on the Council's Lets Talk website HERE .

The questionnaire includes an interactive map for respondents to highlight any specific areas where they don't feel safe in the borough. They can also add suggestions on how to improve this.

It is open to all those who live, work, study in or visit Kingston borough.

Councillor Caroline Kerr, Leader of Kingston Council, said: "Through this survey, we hope to understand more about the experiences of women and girls, what are the social attitudes towards harassment and abuse towards women, and whether there are any barriers to seeking help.

"We also want to hear from anyone who identifies as a man or boy and lives, works or studies in Kingston.

"If you have ever witnessed threatening or intimidating behaviour towards a woman or girl in public spaces which made them unsafe, we want to hear about it."

The survey is part of the Council's year long programme of work to address the safety of women and girls in the borough.

Results are expected to be available in September and will be used to develop an action plan to improve the safety of the borough's female residents in public spaces.

The plan will be reviewed and communicated to the public on a regular basis.

Deputy Leader of Kingston Council, Councillor Tim Cobbett said: "We want to make Kingston a safer borough for all women and girls.

"We have recently established a working group with the Police, local specialist services and relevant partners to create an effective action plan around messaging, appropriate referral pathways, hearing the voice of the survivor, tactical and on the ground work as well as upskilling local professionals through training."

If you or anyone you know have experienced harassment and abuse from a partner/ex-partner or family member and would like support, please contact the Kingston DV Hub for support on 0208 547 6046 or the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.

If you or anyone you know have experienced harassment in public spaces and would like to speak to someone, please contact Victim Support on 0808 168 9111. More information can be found on the Victim Support website.

If you or anyone you know have experienced a sexual assault and would like support, please contact the National Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999.

If you or anyone you know are concerned that someone might be stalking you and would like to access support, please contact the National Stalking Helpline for support on 0808 802 0300.

If you are aged between 13 - 19 years old and have experienced harassment or relationship abuse, you can access further information on the Gettingiton website .

Kingston Nub News is now sponsored by Holland Hahn & Wills - a great local business which also works to support Kingston's community. Read more about our new partners HERE

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