Ealing Council’s Cabinet will be reviewing a new Male Violence Against Women and Girls (MVAWG) strategy at its cabinet meeting on 22 February 2023.
In 2022, more than 3,000 women and girls took part in a Safer Ealing for Women (SEfW) listening exercise and consultation that the council and Safer Ealing Partnership ran.
The results of the Safer Ealing Partnership survey highlighted many worries and concerns that girls and women in Ealing have about their personal safety and what they want to see improved.
As a result, Labour-run Ealing Council set out what it calls A Safer Ealing For Women Action Plan. Click here to read it.
In August 2022, the council published the findings. This revealed that 93% of women suggested that better lighting would improve safety in public spaces, 90% of women were unaware of support organisations, 60% of women suggested that CCTV cameras will make them feel safer and 93% of women suggested that better lighting would improve safety in public spaces.
According to the council, the feedback from this has feed into the strategy to improve safety for women across Ealing and its seven towns.
The council has implemented a number of urgent changes including improving and extending street lighting, launch an education program offered to every secondary school, to focus on healthy relationships, install 14 new CCTV cameras in locations identified in the consultation.
The council says the strategy it is implementing has four four key priorities:
• Prevention: Stop violence from happening or reoccurring through education, increased awareness, and intervention
• Support for women and girls: Access appropriate and high-quality services
• Holding perpetrators to account: Demonstrating that their behaviour is not tolerated and indicating how they can address it
• Developing a community-co-ordinated response: Create a culture where it is everyone’s responsibility to recognise and respond to MVAWG.
An Ealing Council spokesperson told EALING.NEWS: “The new Male Violence Against Women and Girls (MVAWG) strategy was developed by the council and the Safer Ealing Partnership (SEP), and it sets out a strong commitment to reviewing and assessing the work that has already taken place in relation to MVAWG.
“The first phase of the strategy took place last year, and the actions announced in September 2022 are already underway. The work is ongoing and already we are implementing new measures including the installation of 14 new high quality CCTV cameras, upgrading over 3,100 light columns to LED, delivering an educational programme that seeks to improve healthy relationships and awareness in schools; as well as finalising the development of a new website dedicated to women and girls.
“The new strategy takes the initiatives further, seeking to address misogynistic behaviour, introduce new ways to tackle domestic violence and aiming to further change attitudes and culture in communities, that can lead to misogyny and violence to women and girls. This is a strategy where everyone is responsible for change, it will be reviewed regularly, while it will support women and girls needs, it will also challenge unacceptable behaviour and hold perpetrators to account. .
“The work is ongoing and reviewed regularly, and the second stage of actions will be announced in Feb 2024, this will follow extensive feedback and engagement, as we continue to create a safer Ealing.”
 strategy at its cabinet meeting on 22 February 2023.){kind=link}