Hannah Barham-Brown manifesto:
Every week nine women in North Yorkshire experience sexual assault, seven experience rape, reports of harassment and stalking have increased by 83% in the last year and an average of 15 domestic abuse offences are reported to the police every day.
It doesn’t have to be like this. Violence isn’t inevitable, but faced with women’s fears of violence, politicians have offered nothing but empty words and piecemeal measures. When the press coverage ends, their interest fades, and ending violence only lasts as long as the news cycle.
As Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire I will put ending violence against women and girls at the top of the agenda. I will:
- Make ending violence against women and girls a top policing priority.
- Launch an independent inquiry into misogyny in North Yorkshire Police.
- Run quarterly scrutiny panels reviewing the reasons abuse and sexual violence cases are dropped.
- Ringfence discretionary funding for EVAWG organisations, particularly for sustainable funding for specialised services supporting Disabled, LGBTQ+, black and minoritised women.
- Ensure specialist support for everyone reporting abuse and sexual violence.
- Implement compulsory training for all agencies working with black and minoritised women who are victims of violence.
- Ensure a trauma informed and victim-led approach to investigations.
North Yorkshire showed how powerful we are when we forced Philip Allott to resign after his disgraceful, victim blaming comments were reported in the media. Now it’s time to finish the job. We have an opportunity to build a better future for women and girls in North Yorkshire, and send a message to politicians everywhere.
Enough is enough. We will not allow politicians to sit idly by while women lose their lives and freedom in the face of violence.
