Operation Awake, partnership supports the safety of women in public life

THURSDAY, 6th July saw the launch of a partnership pilot scheme to provide additional support to local women in public life who are at the receiving end of abusive emails and social media posts.

Known as gender abuse, perpetrators in some cases threaten violence, which is often sexual and with deeply upsetting content.

Members of Salisbury Soroptimists, who have been coordinating and leading a Women’s Safety Initiative in the city, learned from female councillors that, unlike MPs, there is no bespoke reporting structure for female councillors or women who work or volunteer in public service.

Liz Batten of the Soroptimist project group said: “We are saying ‘it’s not ok’ to be personally abusive to any woman – but we believe that those women who give of their time and energy to serve their local community deserve to be better protected from this kind of gender-based abuse.

“We are pleased that Wiltshire Police agreed with us that women should be encouraged to report the gender abuse they receive so that enquiries can be made to identify the perpetrators and assess any immediate risk.”

Through Operation Awake, female councillors and other women in public life will be encouraged to telephone 101 to report any such abuse, whether written, verbal or on social media, and to quote Operation Awake to the call handler. They will ensure that the call is dealt with through this new mechanism.

Police will then ensure that incidents and offences can be analysed to identify serial perpetrators or to inform patrol strategies. The police will also support publicity campaigns and engagement to encourage reporting.

Where appropriate these will be dealt with as crimes and investigated. Where the matter does not meet a criminal threshold for investigation the information supplied will be used to help identify patterns of behaviour and ultimately to pinpoint repeat offenders.

We hope that by building a stronger intelligence picture, the police will be able to deploy resources to proactively target potential perpetrators and prevent offences.

This pilot is closely allied to Project Vigilant, which seeks to build trust and confidence in policing, facilitate relentless pursuit of perpetrators and create safer spaces for women and girls.

Operation Awake aims to make a positive difference to the lives of women in public life and to encourage young women to consider standing for public office and furthering their careers without the shadow of this kind of abuse. The message to abusers is clear – ‘it’s not ok’ to treat women this way!

The Salisbury Women’s Safety Initiative was initially started in March 2021 following the murder of Sarah Everard. A partnership was formed between Safer and Supportive Salisbury and Soroptimist International of Salisbury.

The project group has been working closely with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, Wiltshire Police, Wiltshire Council and Salisbury City Council.

Project Vigilant was launched in Wiltshire in 2021; the operation involves proactive patrols being carried out on a frequent basis to prevent violence and sexual offences against women and girls linked to the night time economy.

It aims to reassure anyone of any gender that they can enjoy their night out without fear alongside targeting perpetrators to show that Wiltshire is not a place where they can commit these crimes.